Forgotten
by Maddy-Lynn
Summary: Sometimes things happen that we want to forget so badly. What if we actually could? With the world turning upside down, will forgotten memories be a burden or a blessing? And what will happen when those memories finally come back?...
1. Part 1

**[A/N: CAUTION! Spoiler alert. If you haven't watched the anime up to ****episode 47**** or read the manga up to ****chapter 42**** (first chapter of ****book 12)**** then you might not want to read this because you will either be confused or it will spoil everything else you still need to catch up on. As always, ENJOY!]

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_Say my name and his in the same breath  
I dare you to say they taste the same_

—Nana K—

The fireworks had been rescheduled for tonight. I had invited the others so we could all go together. When I first asked them I was so afraid they wouldn't want to go with me; afraid they hated me so much that they didn't even want to see me. But they had agreed. I was going to meet them at room 707. But I had gone to Jackson's first. I never thought I would run into Shoji there. I never thought he would affect me so much.

When I heard Nana's voice it helped distill my crazed emotions like a sedative. It had been so long since I actually talked with her. Seeing and hearing her on TV wasn't nearly the same as actually talking and being with her. And I admitted to her how afraid I was to see Nobu. After what had just transpired with Shoji, I was terrified to the bone that the moment I saw him, I would finally lose him for good.

"Nobu isn't here," she said casually. "He has no backbone, he backed out at the last minute. So hurry up and get over here already."

Mixed emotions flooded my heart. I was relieved that I would not have to face him yet at the same time it hurt that he couldn't stand to see me. I couldn't blame him though—I would never forgive me if I were him. I honestly loved Nobu and I felt completely terrible for causing him so much pain. I never meant to become pregnant by Takumi; I never meant to completely betray him; I never meant to betray myself.

I managed to find the will in me to get up from the bench and started walking to the apartment. My heart still felt heavy as I walked the lonely streets. I forced myself to put on a cheery face though. I couldn't let the others see how much pain I was in. I knew they all likely hated that I decided to marry Takumi and leave Nobu, so it only made sense that they would be upset with me even more if they knew I was not happy.

Standing before the door was nerve racking. I was excited to see Nana again—to see Yasu and Shin again too. I missed having all of them in my life. Lately my life had been reduced to the lonely confines of my new apartment with only the occasional visit from Jun-chan. I knew Takumi was busy with work, but that didn't get rid of the deep loneliness inside of me.

I took a deep breath, put on a smile, and rang the bell. For a moment there was no response at all. The light was on though so they must be there. I waited. I was just about to call Shin when I heard the lock click—took them long enough.

"Konbanwa," I said before the door even finished opening. When it did, my heart froze in my chest.

—Nobu—

I couldn't possibly begin to explain the extreme range of emotions I felt when I saw her standing there. The shock of seeing me was clear on her face and tears started to brim her eyes. My heart ached as she began to tremble and took a hesitant step back.

"Okaeri, Hachiko," I said lightly. The words held an awkward weight on my tongue. But I had to hide all my reservations. Now was likely going to be the only time I could actually talk to her.

Her eyes widened even more and I wasn't sure if she was going to run away or burst out crying. She didn't do either as it turned out. She fell to her knees and hunched over. Judging by her hiccups, she was fighting not to cry. A part of me wanted to wrap her in my arms and take all her pain away. Another part wanted to do nothing and just leave her there to breakdown on her own. I ended up finding middle ground and just placed a hand on her shaking shoulders.

"I'm sorry," she hiccupped. "I'm so, so sorry for everything."

This was going to be harder than I thought it would be—and I never expected this to be anywhere near easy.

I pulled her arm around my neck and helped her to her feet. "Come on, let's talk inside." I almost had to completely drag her in the room; she was that irresponsive. I managed to get her to sit at the table. She immediately fell over onto the table and buried her face in her arms. I sighed and sat across from her.

"I'm sorry," she kept muttering. I believe she was saying other things but I couldn't understand any of it.

"Hachi," was all I said and suddenly there was a pause in her crying. The only sound she made were faint hiccups as she tried to calm herself. She was likely waiting for me to say something but I had no clue what to say.

"I never wanted any of this to happen," she said semi-clearly. She was sitting up but her gaze was still on the table before her. "I never thought that I would get pregnant. The night Takumi called you and told you, he had come over on his own. I was in the bathroom and I thought he had left but he went in my room and used my phone to call you. I was so sure that you completely hated me now that I couldn't say anything when you came over. Besides, with all the terrible things I had done, you deserve much better than me. I don't deserve someone as great as you."

"You're wrong." She gasped and looked up at me for the first time. "I didn't hate you, not for what happened. I hated that you didn't even try to give me some excuse."

"What was I supposed to say?"

"I don't know!" I snapped and slammed my fist on the table. She flinched. I sighed, calming down. "Anything. I just wanted to know that you cared enough about me to try to explain everything."

"I've completely lost you haven't I?" she said just above a whisper.

"Hm?"

"I seem to always lose the ones that mean the most to me," she said more to herself than to me. "First Mr. Takashi but we were never really together to begin with I guess. Still, it was hard getting over him. Then Shoji. And now you too… The Demon Lord really loves torturing me, doesn't he?"

"Hachiko?"

She looked up at me with an empty, distant gaze. The things I was going to say vanished as her gaze went through me. She really did love me still, didn't she? If she was this unhappy with Takumi then why was she still with him? The child may be his, but that didn't mean I couldn't be the father. Though I guess Takumi could provide more than I could… Still, she shouldn't have to suffer just to ensure a wealthy future for her child.

"I'm sorry, Nobu. I wish things were different." She stood up and walked over to the door. All I could do was watch her go in stunned silence. I wanted to make her stay but I knew I couldn't.

"I'm going to keep my word," I said just before she walked out the door. She froze, her back still to me, and waited for me to explain. "I will wait for you and do everything I can to make you happy." I heard her choke back tears and watched with a heavy, mixed heart as she walked out the door.

—Nana O—

The fireworks were beautiful. They almost distracted me from my haunting thoughts on what to do about Ren. I had planned on breaking up with him but instead, he proposed to me. I was so confused; I still couldn't give him an answer yet.

"Nana?" Yasu asked.

I looked at him, and through our eyes we exchanged a deep conversation. I told him how lost I felt and how I didn't know what I really wanted anymore. I told him how afraid I was that things were never going to be how they were, especially with Ren and Hachi. In return, he reassured me that he was there for me and things would be all right. I had my doubts about the latter but trusted his word anyway.

Shin's phone went off and I looked over at him.

"It's a message from Hachi." He skimmed the message and a frowned. "She's not coming."

"What? Why?" I demanded.

"She likely just talked to Nobu." That made sense. If they did talk, either they were back together now and wanted to be alone, or she got upset and was too overwhelmed to be around us. Shin's phone went off again and I looked back at him. Was it Nana? Or perhaps Nobu? "Looks like it's just the three of us tonight," he sighed.

I guess they really did talk. Still, I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. That added to my current anxiety. Were Hachi and I both cursed to have such complicated love lives? Oh shit… My breathing started to become labored and short as my heart pounded against my ribs. I was going to hyperventilate again.

Arms wrapped around me and I shuddered. Yasu didn't say anything as he held me; he didn't have to. His strong arms around me as he held me against him were enough. Slowly I began calming down.

"Come on, I'll take you home," Yasu said after my breathing had steadied and shaking stopped.

"What? The fireworks aren't even done yet."

"You need to get some rest. Otherwise you might have another attack."

He had a point. I needed to stop thinking of everything. I nodded, agreeing to leave, and stood up with a little help from him.

"We're going back to the apartment. You gonna be fine by yourself, Shin?"

"Yeah, don't worry," he said and also stood. "I was going to bail soon anyways since Hachi and Nobu aren't gonna come now."

Together, the three of us walked around the crowd up to the path. There, we parted ways. All the way to the door of apartment 707, Yasu and I didn't say a word as we walked side by side. It wasn't awkward—not from the silence at least. My mind as spinning with thoughts of Ren and somehow they ended up being of Yasu. I don't know how it happened; it just did.

The rain started falling down before we even got inside the apartment building. We ran the last few meters to the building's entrance to escape the rain as it started to rapidly turn into a downpour. We had barely been outside for half a minute and we were close to being soaked.

"You should probably wait here until the storm calms down," I said once inside the building.

He looked at me and hesitated. Maybe he was just catching his breath from sprinting like I was. Maybe he didn't want to and was trying to figure out the nicest way to reject me. Maybe he was surprised that I had just asked to him to stay, with me… in my apartment… just the two of us… alone… Shit, did I _really_ just do that?

What his thoughts were I would likely never know for sure. He just silently nodded and followed me upstairs.

—Nana K—

I sat by the window staring blankly into the darkness as rain ran down the window. After talking with Nobu I couldn't bear to stay and watch the fireworks with Nana and the others. I sent Shin an email apologizing. He said it was okay, but I knew they likely were upset with me. Though I'm sure after they talk to Nobu they will understand better why I could not watch the fireworks with them.

Time dragged by but it was already well past midnight. Still, I was alone. Takumi seemed to be working later and later. I barely ever saw him during the day. After he woke up he would have to go to work. After work he would be so exhausted half the time that he went straight to bed. I never envisioned things to be like this when I thought about getting married and having a child—for multiple reasons. But I couldn't change how things worked out. All I could do was hope that the future will be pleasant enough, if not for me, then at least my child.

Time became an enigma around me as I lost myself in thought. I likely would have fallen asleep without noticing it at all if the light slamming of a door didn't shake me back into the consciousness. Takumi was finally home.

"Okaeri!"

"Tadaima," he sighed flatly. It was clear he was exhausted. Still, couldn't he have been a bit happier to be home with me?—especially after such a long day.

"Do you want me to make you anything to eat?"

"We had dinner already. I'm just going to go to bed."

"Oh, okay." I tried not to left my voice give away my sadness but the look on his face made me think I didn't do a very good job of that.

"You should be getting rest as well. Have you been crying?" He cupped my face and narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.

I pulled away and turned my face away from him. Were my eyes still red? Did my cheeks still have the trails left from past tears? Had my mascara or eyeliner started to run? Damn, I hadn't wanted him to see me like this.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just hormones. Don't worry."

It was a bit shocking how quickly he accepted that answer. He didn't bother trying to comfort me in any way; he just nodded and retired to the bedroom. Did he even care? All the stress was starting to overwhelm me and drive me close to an emotional breakdown. I had to sit down. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and started humming to myself to try to calm down. All this stress was unhealthy—for me and for the baby.

"Nana?" Takumi called from the hallway.

I ignored him and continued trying to calm my nerves. This had to be the worst night of my life, or at least a close second to the night everyone found out I was pregnant.

"What's wrong now?" He had entered the room and now sat next to me. He didn't hold me, didn't place a hand on my shoulder even. The tone of his voice gave no comfort either.

"Do you love me? Are you honesty _in_ love me?"

He flinched from my abrupt, frank question. "Do you really think I don't love you?"

"At times I question it, yes."

He sighed, letting head fall back against the back of the couch, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "With everything I've done for you, you still question my love?"

"There's a difference between loving someone and being _in_ love with someone."

He looked over at me with an annoyed gaze. "And what about you? Are you _in_ _love_ with me? Or are you just marrying me because of the baby or my money?"

I frowned as tears stared rolling down my cheeks. "Do you really think I'm that selfish that I would only be with you for such petty reasons like that?"

"For all I know you would, since we really don't know too much of each other."

_All the more reason why I question our love_, I thought to myself. "If you took more time to be with me then—"

"Took the time?" he cut me off. He sat up and held the coldest, hardest expression I had seen before. As he spoke, his voice became rougher as ire filled him. "Where do you suggest I find the time? I spend all the free time I can with you. Would you like me to quit my job and spend all my time with you?"

Never before had anyone yelled at me in such a way. My friends, like Junko, had yelled at me but I knew she only meant the best and all the anger came out of love. But with Takumi, I felt only annoyance. Should I really have expected any though? He was a famous rock star and I was just a small town girl who ended up with a couple connections and a once in a lifetime encounter with a star. I had never expected I would end up having his child and marrying him.

Between my conflicted emotions and Takumi's rising temper, I knew I had to clear my thoughts somewhere that wasn't here. Without really thinking, I stood up, grabbed my coat and left without another word. Where I was going to go I wasn't sure. I just needed to get away.

Takumi didn't follow me or even try to call out for me to stop. How I saw it, he either didn't care at all or he understood my need to go clear my thoughts and calm down. Which was his real motive I doubted I would ever find out—like it would change anything even if I knew.

I roamed the nearly empty streets restlessly. I stuck to the main streets where there were lights. Other than that, I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. I turned a corner here, crossed a street there, went over that bridge then turned another corner.

The thing about wandering around in the rain is that you get cold pretty quickly, especially if you grabbed a normal jacket and not a waterproof one. Being closed to being completely soaked, I began searching for refuge. Thankfully there was an enclosed bus stop half way down the block. I sprinted for in and sighed in relief as I plopped down on the cold, metal bench. This was stupid. Why did I think that running out in the cold, rainy night would help things?

I was about to call Takumi to come get me—or even a cab—but I realized that I had left my phone on the coffee table at home. Great… just great! How in hell was I going to get home now? Maybe there was a payphone around I could use. I glanced both ways down the road but didn't see any; not that it really mattered since I also didn't have any change on me.

I felt terribly foolish for leaving the house in the middle of a rainstorm without my phone or any money. I didn't even know where I was. I sighed and slumped over, leaning on my knees. Blankly, I stared across the street as I contemplated what on earth I was going to do. As I stared at the building across the street, a nagging feeling began tugging at me. The building seemed so familiar, like I had been here before. Slowly, I realized where my subconscious had led me.

—Nobu—

I guess it was a good idea that I went home after talking to Hachi instead of going to watch the fireworks with the others considering how hard the rain was still coming down. The steady drone of the rain outside mixed with my crazed thoughts prohibited me from going to bed. I stared at the ceiling and watched the shifting shadows cast by the trees moving outside from the wind.

Why is Hachi still with Takumi when she clearly wasn't happy?

Why wasn't I fighting more for her?

Do I even still love her like I used to?

I sighed and tried to wipe all those reoccurring thoughts from my head. I tried focusing on the rain and the steady drumming it made as it splattered against my window. I was beginning to zone everything out when I heard a car's tires screech. At first I didn't think much of it. I could faintly hear someone rambling frantically but I figured they just damaged their car by hitting a lamppost or tree.

Then the feint shrill of sirens gradually filled the air. It was then I became curious. I glanced out my window but could only see the reflection of the taillights on the wet pavement. Slipping on a coat and my shoes, I went outside to check out the commotion.

When I saw a person lying in the middle of the street my heart dropped. Were they still alive? The longer I stared at the body the deeper my heart sunk as I noted more about them. The person was a woman, relatively young looking, and was a bit on the chubby side. No, she wasn't chubby; now that I looked at her more closely at her I knew she was pregnant, though she wasn't showing much. The only reason I knew she was pregnant was because I suddenly recognized her.

"Hachi!" I called and instantly fell to her side. I pulled her into my arms. Her body hung limply in my arms and I started to fear that she was already dead. I leaned forward and heard the shallow labored breaths her lungs struggled to grasp. Thank god she was alive still.

"You know her?" a man—I'm assuming the driver of the car—asked frantically.

"Yeah," I nodded. Fear curled up and clawed at me like a cat stretching and extending its claws. I glanced down the sides of the road yet all I saw was darkness. Why wasn't the ambulance here already? I could hear it getting closer but I still didn't see it.

"Nobu!" I heard Shin call as he ran up to me. "What's going—" He stopped short when he saw Hachi in my arms. His eyes went wide as everything connected. "She's not…?"

"She's alive. For now at least." We stared at each other helplessly for a moment. What were we supposed to do? Behind Shin I spotted emergency lights quickly approaching. "Shine, I need you to do something," I said without taking my eyes off those lights. "Call Nana and Yasu and tell them that Hachi was in an accident and is at the hospital. I'll meet you guys there."

Shin pulled out his cell and stepped inside the building just as the ambulance pulled to a stop. Paramedics rushed out and surrounded us. They pushed me off to the side so they could get to Hachi and one of the started asking me questions. What he asked I didn't know. I was too focused on Hachi to hear what he was saying. When they started to move Hachi to the ambulance, I followed.

"Sir, I'm sorry but you can't come with," one of the medics said.

"I have to! I have to make sure she's alright."

"I'm sorry but you're going to have to get to the hospital on your own."

"No, I'm not leaving her!" The medic I was arguing with tried to hold me back but I fought against him. Both of us were stubborn and he seemed to want to give in as much as I did.

"Oh just let him come, Takashi. You two are just wasting time," one of the other medics said. Takashi let go of me and we both climbed into the back. The entire ride I sat squished to the side, wondering if she was going to be okay. They worked on her, taking stats and poking her with needles, as I sat there uselessly. We soon reached the hospital. This time, I had to leave her. As they took her back into the ER I was forced to resign to the waiting room with all the despair in the world weighing down on my heart.


	2. Part 2

—Nana O—

"You cheater! How do you keep winning?" I complained jokingly. While we waited for the rain to calm down, Yasu and I decided to pass the time by playing card games. At the moment, we were playing Speed. Since we began the game, I had only won two rounds—we had been playing Speed for half an hour now.

"I'm not cheating, I'm just better than you at this game." I stuck my tongue out at him and we both laughed. His cell phone rang. "It's Shin," he told me before answering it. "Hello… wait, you're going too fast, I can't understand you… what?… yeah, of course… okay, we'll meet you there."

"What's up?"

Yasu took a deep breath and rested his forehead against his first for a moment before looking up at me. Uh oh, something serious was wrong. When he spoke my heart grew ice cold in despair. "It's Hachiko. She's in the hospital."

A moment dragged by as words left me in shock. I stared at him, almost not believing what he said at first. He just had to be lying. What could have possibly have happened to Hachi that she would need to be hospitalized? "What happened?" I finally choked.

"She was hit by a car. Nobu and Shin are going to meet us at the hospital."

I couldn't move. Yasu had to pull me to my feet. Even then, he had to help support me because as soon as he started to let go I started to collapse. Together, we walked downstairs. He called for a cab and while we waited for it, I kept thinking that any moment now I'd wake up because this had to be a dream—a nightmare. Why out of everyone in the world would Hachi be hit by a car? There really was a Demon Lord I guess. Still, did Hachi really deserve such a fate?

"The cab is here," Yasu said, temporarily breaking up my thoughts. He helped me into the car and told the driver where to go. We lurched away from the sidewalk heading down the street. What exactly triggered it I can't say, but I started crying. Torrents of tears ran down my face and sent shudders though my bones. Without any questions, Yasu pulled me into his arms. I buried my face in his shoulder and clutched his arms desperately. We stayed that way until we reached the hospital.

While Yasu paid the cab driver I ran inside. I spotted Shin sitting off to the side staring into space. I ran up to him and slammed my hands on the armrests on either side of him. He flinched and stared at me. "How is she? Have you heard anything? Where's Nobu?" I asked in a frantic panic.

"I don't know, no, and bathroom. Yasu?"

"Paying the cab," I sighed. I fell into the chair beside him and hung my head. How long would it be until we heard from the doctors? Yasu joined us then. He sat next to me, taking my hand in his. I glanced up at him. _Thanks,_ my eyes told him

All night I kept glancing at the clock—bad idea. As I was finding out, the more you stare at a clock the slower time seemed to go by. We had only been there for fifteen minutes yet it felt like hours.

"This is taking forever!" I complained and stood up. "What's taking them so long?"

"Calm down, Nana." Yasu reached out towards me but I stepped back. He sighed. "I'm sure they're doing everything they can as quickly as they can."

"Well it's not quick enough!" I huffed. I sat down across from the boys and glared between them. I noticed something was off and looked around. "Where's Nobu?"

—Nobu—

It was pathetic of me to hide out in a hospital bathroom, I know, but I couldn't stand to be around the others—not now. I had locked myself in the last stall and sat there crying the entire time. It hurt so much not knowing if she was going to be okay.

What I had trouble wrapping my mind around was why Hachi was even there at my apartment. Had she come to talk to me again? It was the only reason I could think of. Still, it didn't exactly explain why—and there were many whys swimming through my mind.

Why did she want to talk to me?

Why so late at night?

Why didn't she just call instead of walking in the rain?

Why did she have to get hit by a car?

Why were there always so many questions with her?…

I rubbed at my eyes in pointless frustration. Just then the door opened; I went completely still and silent as I heard the man enter. To my bemusement, I didn't hear the squeak of a stall door opening or even the zip of a zipper. Since he didn't seem interested in using the facilities I mentally yelled at him to leave so I could be alone again.

"Nobu?" Yasu calmly said. After he realized I wasn't going to respond he sighed. I heard the clinking of his chain as—I assume—he sat down on the floor. "You don't have to hide."

I dryly scoffed and looked up at the ceiling. I wanted to do more than hide; I wanted to runaway and escape this fucked up, painful world. What did Yasu even expect me to do if not hide? "I'd rather be alone in here than out there with you guys, especially when Takumi shows up." I sighed. "Is he here yet?"

"No, and he won't likely come tonight."

"Why?" I asked suddenly. I knew Takumi was a jerk but I for sure thought he would come to the hospital to make sure she was alright.

"I couldn't get a hold of him. I called Ren and asked him to try but he just arrived and said he couldn't get a hold of him either. He wouldn't pick up his house or cell phone."

I didn't know what to make of all that. Had he been that sound asleep? Or maybe he was out looking for her and forgot to bring his cell phone. Maybe it was time for me to stop hiding. Since Takumi wasn't going to show I didn't have to worry about starting a scene. That is, if my heavy heart would even let me stand up.

"She needs you," Yasu said as he stood up. "You can't really be there for her in here though, can you?" He walked out, leaving me with those words hanging in the air. He had a point. Somehow I found the strength to get up, stop crying and go out and wait for the doctors to report back on Hachiko.

All night the five of us—Shin, Yasu, Nana, Ren and I—sat there restlessly. We all refused to leave even when the nurses said they would give us a call as soon as they had word on Hachiko's condition. We would all let each other dose off but never for very long. We were all so jumpy that any time the doors opened we all hoped that we would finally hear word. It wasn't until five in the morning, four hours after they got there, that they finally got word of Hachiko's condition.

"She's stabilized now and is resting. However… we weren't able to save her child," the doctor said.

A wave of despair flowed over us. None of us could believe that Hachiko miscarried. Though if you thought about it, it wasn't surprising considering she was hit by a car. It just came as such a great shock because we were all just thinking about Hachiko and if she would live. The thought only became grimmer as it sunk in. How would Hachiko react when she woke up and found out? Would she be so distraught that she would try to kill herself? I prayed not.

"Can I see her?" I asked.

"She's still asleep right now, though I guess you could wait in her room. But only one of you can be in her room at a time. I'll leave it to you to figure out how you want to go about taking turns."

For a moment we stood in silence as the doctor walked away. Shin was the first to speak. "Now that we know she's okay, I think I'll go home and get some rest."

"Don't you want to see her though?" Nana asked.

"Of course," he shrugged. "But I can wait." He smiled at Nana and for a moment she just stared at him blankly. But slowly, a soft smile graced her face and she nodded.

"We can share a cab. I just wanna run in real quick to see her."

—Nana O—

My eyes wandered over her sleeping form to the IV in her wrist, the stitches in her forehead, and the bandages peeking out from where the hospital gown had fallen slightly off her shoulder. Her hair was tied in a messy ponytail and was sprayed over her pillow. Her cheeks were lightly flushed though the rest of her skin seemed so pale.

"Hachi," I cried softly, tears brimming my eyes. I went to her bedside and gently grasped her hand, careful not to disturb the IV. "Please, wake up soon." I leaned over her and gently left a kiss on each cheek. I would have stayed longer but Shin was waiting for me—Nobu was probably anxious to see Hachiko too.

Ren had to get back to his hotel. Shin, Yasu and I all went to get something to eat at a twenty-four hour diner near my apartment. We had ordered food but it mostly just sat on our plates. Time dragged by painfully since conversation was nonexistent and I couldn't stop thinking about Hachi. She had lived, but how was she going to be once she woke up? How badly will she be shaken by such an event? Then an even darker thought crawled into my mind. What will Takumi do when he finds out? Since Hachi is longer having his child he might just dump her on the curb like the asshole he was. He also just might keep her all to himself, away from us, because he's an asshole.

"It's getting late. I'm going to head home now," Shin said and took one last sip of his drink. He stood up and put on his jacket. "You going to be okay?"

"We'll be fine," Yasu answered.

With Shin gone, things felt so different. I started to think about telling Yasu what I had wanted to talk to him about all night. For most of the night it had just been sitting in the back of my mind since I was too concerned about Hachi to think about much else. But now I felt an urgency to tell him; if I didn't I might explode.

"What is it?" he asked, clearly reading the hesitation in my eyes. He was always good at that: knowing when something was on my mind and I needed to talk.

"It's about Ren. He… he…" I couldn't finish. The words refused to leave my lips.

"I know."

"You know?"

He nodded. "We talked."

"When? What did he say?"

"It was before he asked you. He wanted to know if I thought it was a good idea before he talked to you."

"And you said yes?" I blurted.

"Not exactly," he said and took a sip of his drink. "I told him that if he feels truly ready for such a commitment and everything that comes with it, good or bad, then he should just follow his heart and do what he wants."

"Oh. I see…" I looked down at the cup between my hands and gazed into the inky black coffee. I could see half of my reflection in it. My eyes looked so dead and distant to me; did Yasu see the same thing? I chewed my lip and pushed the cup away opting for the empty tables in the diner to be my new focus. "I haven't given him an answer yet," I said and glance sideways at him. He didn't respond—did he even hear me? I turned, looking at him, and asked, "What do you think I should do? Should I tell him yes or no?"

"That's up to you," he said with a sigh.

My jaw flexed and hands fisted. How could he be so calm and nonchalant about this? It was like it was the most insignificant thing to him. "Don't you care at all?" I snapped. "Don't you have any opinion? You can't honestly tell me that you don't care at all if I say yes to no to Ren's proposal, can you?"

He sighed, took off his sunglasses and looked at me. I flinched. His eyes seemed so broken with exhaustion. "Of course I care. But this is one of those choices that you have to make on your own. It doesn't matter what I think because in the end you're the one that has to decide."

I wasn't sure whether I should thank him for his profoundness or to slap him for being no help at all. I was irked and felt a bit like crying. What was I going to do? I loved Ren but did I love him enough to marry him? Maybe it was just the idea of marriage that was freaking me out. I never knew what it was like to have a family. I had met Hachiko's family before and I remember how wonderful it felt to have such close, loving people around that were there for you. Would I be able to be like Hachiko's mom? I have never really thought of myself as warm and loving. And I admit, I had thought about marrying Ren but that was before either of us came to Tokyo and before our lives changed so much.

"Ugh," I grumbled and ran my fingers through my hair. "Why must all of this be happening right now?"

"Things will work out." Yasu took my hand and gave me a soft smile. It helped, a bit. I sighed and smiled back. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," I said and nodded. "Let's go."

—Nobu—

Sometime during the night I fell asleep because the next thing I knew a nurse was waking me up. "Sir. Sir, I'm sorry but I have to change Ms. Komatsu's bandages now."

"Uh, okay," I said still half asleep. I got up out of my chair stepping to the side and stretched. Sleeping in a hospital chair slumped over on a bed was not comfortable. In need of some source of sustenance, I skirted out of the room to find a vending machine and hopefully a coffee machine as well.

To my luck I found both machines just down the hallway. I dug around my pocket for change as I stared at the limited selection. As if on cue my stomach growled. I knew that my stomach wouldn't be very pleased with whatever I picked—the vending machine only had junk food—but I didn't feel like leaving in case Hachi woke up. I settled for some chocolate covered pretzels and cheap coffee with cream and sugar.

As I was walking back to the room, I saw Nana. She was carrying a plastic bag with a big yellow smilie face on it—clearly a take out bag—in one hand and a drink carrier with two coffees in it. She smiled at me and I nodded back.

"Hey, I picked us up some lunch."

Lunch? Wow, I was really knocked out for some time. "Thanks, Nana," I said and chucked my hospital coffee into the nearest garbage can.

"I figured that you wouldn't want to leave her and I know they don't serve real food here," she laughed. "Have the doctors said anything yet?" I shook my head; she frowned. "I see. I wonder how much longer she'll be out."

An awkward silence started creeping upon us so I took a deep breath and changed the subject. "Let's get out of the hallway and eat. I don't think they'll mind if we're both in there."

"If they do, I'm kicking your ass out," she teased.

Nana was my savior. She had brought cheeseburgers and fries. When I opened the container and was hit by the delectable aroma, I swear I was in heaven. We didn't talk. I was too busy stuffing my face and Nana seemed to be thinking of something—likely Hachi.

"Ren proposed to me," she said.

I had just started chewing a large bite of my burger and nearly choked. "What?"

"Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?"

I had known Nana and Ren for a long time. I remembered so clearly the day Ren left us to go to Tokyo. Right as the train's doors were closing, Nana rushed out and started crying; I ran to Ren's window only to see him crying too. Both of them hated being torn apart. So the only crazy thing I could see about him now proposing was that Nana didn't seem to be happy about it. "So… What did you say?"

"I haven't given him an answer yet."

_What's stopping you_, I wanted to ask, but couldn't. I didn't exactly get the chance to because the steady sounds of the machines that had faded into the background now changed. No alarms were going off, but I noticed that the slow pulse of the EKG machine was now faster. I turned around to look at Hachi. She didn't look different. I got up and went to her side, taking her hand in mine. When I gently squeezed her hand I was shocked when she squeezed back.

"Hachi? Can you hear me?" She didn't say anything but I kept a close eye on her, looking for any sign of recognition. Nothing. I felt Nana by my side and I sighed. "She squeezed my hand," I explained. "And her heart rate is up too."

"Is she going to wake up?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. But I had a good feeling that we wouldn't be waiting much longer.

Nana took Hachi's hand from me and held it tightly. "Hachi, it's Nana. If you can hear me squeeze my hand." We both waited. It took awhile but slowly Hachi's fingers curled around Nana's hands. We both looked at each other and smile. "Keep talking to her, Nobu. I'm going to call the others."

Nana jumped up and dashed out the door. She was in such much of a hurry that she didn't care that she slammed the door shut behind her. It was enough to make me jump a little and apparently wake Hachi as well.

—Nana O—

I ran outside—not wanting to get yelled at by the nurses—and pulled out my phone. I hesitated for a moment, deciding on if it was better that I send an email to the guys or if I should just call them. I ended up going with the second option because my hands were shaking too much to text.

"Yasu! We think she's going to wake up soon," I blurted into the phone before Yasu even finished saying hello.

"I'll be right over."

"Good." I hung up the phone and called Shin next. It rang and rang, seeming like he would never answer. I ended up being connected to his voice mail. Frustrated, I snapped my phone shut, squeezing the little thing tightly as if it was the phone's fault for Shin no answering. I opened it back up and tried again only to have the same result. At least I left a message for him that time.

I was just about to call Ren to tell him the news too when I froze. My breath caught in my throat as I watched Takumi run into the hospital. I doubt he noticed me standing off to the side but I definitely noticed him. My heart began doing this weird thing where it felt heavy in my chest and I couldn't tell if was beating abnormally slow or fast. My lungs quivered for breath as my mind pleaded that the nurses wouldn't let him see Hachi.

I shoved my phone in my pocket and followed him in. I didn't see him in the reception room. He must have already gone down the hallway to her room. I started for Hachi's room at a fast walk pace that quickly changed to a light jog. Despite my hopes that Takumi would get lost, I could hear him yelling a few doors down. I stopped in front of the door, my hand hesitating to open it as I listened to the muffled argument between those inside. Then the talking suddenly stopped completely. Was that a good sign?

Slowly opening the door, I peeked inside. Hachi was sitting up in bed looking frightened. Nobu was slumped in a chair, his face buried in his hands. Takumi was looking down towards the floor with his hand fisted.

Hachi looked over at me her brow knitting in confusion. "Um, do I know you?"

My jaw dropped. Did Hachi really just ask what I think she did? "It's me, Nana. Nana Osaki. We're best friends and live—lived together in apartment seven-oh-seven, remember?"

"I'm sorry, I don't."

"She doesn't remember us either," Nobu added with a sigh.

I stared at Hachi helplessly. It felt as if I was melting into a puddle on the floor. Hachiko didn't remember any of us, or any of the things we all went through. If she forgot all about me, she also probably didn't remember what happened with Shouji. She did not remember renting apartment 707 with me; did not remember Blast; did not remember meeting Takumi; did not remember dating Nobu; did not even remember being pregnant with Takumi's baby.

It was as if she never came to Tokyo.


	3. Part 3

—Nana K—

Out of everything I could have possibly woken up to, I never would have imagined it would have been in a hospital room to a bunch of strangers and Takumi from my favorite band—especially Takumi! I nearly fainted again when I saw him. The only reason I didn't was because I was so confused about why he was actually there and having an argument with some strange guy. Then this girl came in the room and things didn't get much better. They all argued for a bit and I tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Where's Jun?" I asked.

The others stopped talking and looked at me. Takumi looked a bit annoyed; the other guy looked sad and frustrated; and the girl looked so pained. None of them spoke though. It was irksome that they didn't seem interested in trying to clear things up for me. I mean it's _not _like I had just woken up in a hospital for a reason I couldn't remember and was surrounded by a bunch of people I didn't know…

"Where is Junko?" I asked again with a bit more force. If they didn't answer me this time I was going to call the nurse and have them removed. I should have done that in the first place I guess but I thought I might try to get some information out of them since they claimed to know me.

"She's not here. I'll go call her and ask if she can come over here," the girl said and exited the room. When the door closed behind her, the boys began another angry staring contest. I felt kind of glad that I have no clue why they were acting like that; it was less for me to worry about.

A moment later a nurse entered the room. She looked at the guys and frowned. "Only one guest is allowed in at a time. I'm going to have to ask one of you to leave." Neither of them moved for a moment and I thought the nurse would kick both out. But the unnamed guy nodded and slowly left. Satisfied, the nurse came up to me and smiled as she checked the machines. "I'm surprised you're awake already. Most patients I see in similar conditions are out for a day or two."

"What happened to me?"

The nurse stopped writing on the clipboard she had and gave me a strange look. "You don't remember?"

"She doesn't remember me or her friends either," Takumi added.

The nurse gave a small pout. "I see. Acute memory loss is common. I'll let the doctor know so you can arrange getting a therapist to help you recover your memories." She smiled kindly at me again and patted my arm gently. She wrote a few more notes, changed my IV bag and left.

The one terrible thing about being hooked to an AKG machine was that it was impossible to hide your heart rate to those in the room. And right now, the only other person in the room with me was Takumi. I tried to stay calm, to prevent the beeping machine from revealing my feelings about being alone in a room with him, but I was never good at hiding my emotions. If the machine didn't tip him off, my burning cheeks likely did.

He didn't seem to notice though—or if he did, he didn't say anything. He weakly smiled before sitting in the chair that had been pulled up to the side of my bed. Great, now he was closer to me. I couldn't decide whether or not it would be okay if I looked at him or if I should try to keep my gaze elsewhere in the room. I chose the latter.

I expected him so say something but he remained silent. I quickly glanced at him through the corner of my eye and noted that he wasn't even looking at me. I found myself staring at him. I still couldn't believe that he was actually here. But the fact that he was made me feel that I really had lost my memory like the others had said.

"Uh, Takumi…?" His eyes flashed up to look at me and I lost the words I was going to say. I could feel my heart pounding in every inch of my body. My throat felt dry so I swallowed a couple times, though it did not seem to help. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. I focused on slowing my heart and keeping my breathing even. Once I felt calm enough to talk I asked him, "How do you know me?"

"We met through Nana, the girl that was in here earlier."

"Wait, her name is Nana too? That's so cool!" I blurted. "No wonder we're friends. I wonder what else we have in common. She looked a little punk-ish but obviously we got along before so we must have quite a few things in common…" Midway through my rambling I noticed Takumi giving me a look and I instantly stopped talking. "Sorry. You were saying?"

He sighed and sat back in his chair. "Like I said, we met through Nana. We went out together a couple times. Then you ended up being pregnant with my child."

The second sentence made my eyes bug out; the third made my jaw drop. "Are you serious?" The words ran through my head over and over again but I still couldn't grasp them. I _dated_ Takumi? And I'm pregnant with _his child_? My breath came short and I placed a hand on my chest. How in the world could that be true? Things like that did not happen to girls like me. And what happened to Shouji? Did I cheat on him or did we break up? And to end up being pregnant with Takumi's child… it was hard to believe. But why else would he be here? Maybe this was all a dream. I wouldn't be surprised if the Demon Lord taunted me with such a dream. The only thing that made me know for sure that this was not a dream was the pain thrumming in my head and in my stomach.

Suddenly my breath caught in my throat. My stomach hurt; and according to Takumi I was pregnant with his child. I wrapped my arms around myself and looked at Takumi with frighten desperation all over my face. "What happened to me? Is the baby okay?"

Takumi look down at the floor causing a cold sinking feeling to fill me. "I don't know. I just got here and no one has told me yet. All I know is that you were in some sort of car crash."

That didn't sound good. Shouldn't something like the condition of your unborn child be one of the first things you tell a guy? Then again, Takumi burst in right after I woke up and he immediately started yelling with the other guy that had been in the room; there hadn't been any time to tell him anything. Obviously Takumi was not the person I should be asking these questions to but I didn't know whom to ask. The nurse could tell me about the baby, sure, but she couldn't tell me everything I wanted to know. "Who was that guy in here earlier?"

Takumi's demure changed suddenly. He looked at me with cautiously narrowed eyes. "No one important. He's just an old friend that doesn't get along with either of us now. He's only here because Nana dragged him along."

I had a strange feeling about what he said. Even so, I had no reason to believe that Takumi would lie to me. "Could I talk to him?"

"What? Why?"

"He might know more about what happened."

Takumi scoffed. "I doubt it. Even if he does I don't think he'd tell you the whole story."

"Why's that?" I asked. I waited for an answer but soon gave up as the silence dragged on. "Could I talk to Nana then?"

Takumi sighed. "Fine. I'll go get her." He stood up and left the room. Soon Nana came in and sat in the char Takumi had been in moments before.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm in a little pain and I'm starving for a good burger and fries. Other than that I'm confused out of my mind since I apparently have amnesia and am having Takumi's child—I think. Am I having his child still?"

She frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry."

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Strangely, I didn't feel much. I thought I would feel more pain from the news but I guess my memory loss took off a lot of the edge since I never remembered ever being pregnant in the first place. "So we're friends. Right?"

"Yes. Oh and Junko said she'll be here in fifteen minutes."

"Thanks." Awkward silence began creeping in around us. What was I supposed to say to her? She was a complete stranger to me. I guess the best place to start was the beginning. "So, how did we meet?"

"It was last winter," she said with a soft smile. "We were on the same train going to Tokyo. The train was pretty packed and you ended up sitting next to me. The snow kept delaying the train so we talked a lot—well you did most of the talking."

"Strange. I remember getting on the train but nothing after. It's kind of funny to make friends on a train if you think about it."

"Actually, that's not quite what happened. After we got to Tokyo we parted ways. It wasn't until a few days later we ran into each other. We were both apartment hunting and we ended up deciding to become roommates. Now we share apartment 707 together."

"You're kidding?" 707. Really? We were both named Nana and our apartment number was 707. How in the world did we manage that?

She laughed. "Yeah, I know it's ironic." She rested her chin on the palm of her hand and stared at me for a moment. I felt my cheeks starting to flush. What was her problem? Why was she staring at me like that? "Is there anything else you want to know?" she asked me.

There was a lot I wanted to know but I had no clue how much she could tell me. Also, how was I supposed to know that she wasn't lying? I didn't know if I could trust any of them actually but until Junko showed up they were my best bet to finding out all that I forgot. "Who was that blond guy in here earlier?"

Her smile grew just a bit when I asked that. "His name is Nobu. He's in my band, Black Stones—or Blast for short. You dated him once but things got messy when you ended up being pregnant and Takumi stepped back into your life."

Well that story was a bit different than what Takumi told me. Who should I believe? I was really going to have to wait for Junko to show up.

"Why does Takumi hate Nobu so much?"

Her jaw tensed and she looked away from me. "I can't tell you exactly, but my guess is that Takumi is just as asshole."

Well that was very helpful… It was beginning to seem that they all hated each other and would gladly talk bad about the others now that I couldn't remember what the truth was. I really wished Junko were here already. I know she would tell me the truth about everything—whether I liked it or not.

"Can I talk to Nobu now?"

"Sure, I'll go get him."

—Nana O—

I left her room, finding Nobu and Takumi glaring at each other. I gave Takumi a look before turning my attention to Nobu. "She wants to talk to you." He nodded back and slip passed me. I took his spot against the wall and stared at Takumi with a hard frown on my face.

"What did you say to her?" I asked. He scoffed but offered no further reply. I should have known better than to expect an answer from him. "You better not have lied to her."

"Now why would I do that?" he mused and looked at me. I did not like the look in his eyes; it made me think he had an agenda. "How do I know _you're_ not lying to Nana?"

Touché. But I was her friend, not a famous playboy who had never been known to genuinely care about anyone. As her friend, it was my duty to try to keep her away from guys like Takumi and I'd rather give up my recording contract than to idly sit by and watch Takumi take Hachi away from us again.

"I have no reason to lie to her."

"Oh, really?"

"No, I don't. And at least I was here for her last night after the accident." His silence made me smile on the inside. He couldn't argue with that fact. Damn, I should have mentioned that to Hachi. Hopefully Nobu would tell her because that would really give him better odds against Takumi.

Thankfully Yasu and Shin showed up. I really didn't like being alone with Takumi—not that I ever liked being around him. Yasu nodded at Takumi but that was the most recognition he got. "How is she?" Yasu asked.

"It's hard to say. She lost her memory and doesn't remember any of us. Junko is on her way over now."

"Where's Nobu?"

"Talking to Hachi," I said and nodded towards the door. "I think she's just trying to figure out what happened right now. She asked us how we know her too, but I don't think she really believes us yet."

"What did the doctor have to say?"

I shook my head and looked to Takumi. "A nurse came in and made a note of her amnesia on her charts," he answered.

Yasu stared at me for a long moment. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to read how much it was affecting me. I know he could see all the pain and frustration building inside me. Most of it was from Hachi, some from Takumi and some from Ren's proposal still looming over my head. But could Yasu see all of that too? Knowing him, he likely did.

"Let's go sit in the waiting room," Yasu said. I nodded. All four of us walked out to the waiting room. Takumi didn't sit with us. He walked out the front door and pulled out his phone. He wasn't on it for very long and soon walked back in. "Could you please keep me updated on Nana?" Takumi asked Yasu. It was not really a question though; Yasu was going to keep him updated anyways.

"Good riddance," I said after he walked out the door again.

"He left quickly," Shin added. "Why did he even bother coming?"

"Don't say that, Shin."

"Why? If he really loved her he should stay longer and make sure she's okay."

Yasu sighed but didn't comment. Personally I agreed with Shin and I wondered why Yasu was making a fuss about it. I shook it from my thoughts though. There were more important things to figure out. "What are we going to do about Hachi and her amnesia?"

"I don't know if there's anything we can do."

"Well should we try to help her remember and do some of the things we used to do?"

"I don't know," Yasu repeated. "We should just wait and see what the doctor has to say."

"Whenever that is," I grumbled and rolled my eyes.

Within the next five minutes, Junko showed up. The guys decided to split while I walked Junko to Hachi's room. I waited outside the room, partly to wait for Nobu and partly in the hopes I'd overhear what the doctor said. I wasn't very successful though. Either the walls were sound proof or the doctor talked in a whisper. I shifted my weight from one foot to another and hummed _Rose_ to myself.

By the time I started to hum the song for the third time, the door finally opened. The doctor exited first followed by Nobu. He looked at me and gave me a weak, forced smile. "Well?" I asked hesitantly.

"She'll be in the hospital for about a week as she recovers. She'll be staying with Junko for now. The doctor wants us to have minimal contact with her until her memory comes back so she doesn't get too stressed. They also put her in a special therapy program. Basically they hypnotize you and try to make you relive your memories, I don't know. They've been having good results with it and decided Hachi would be a good fit for the program. Junko says she'll give us regular updates on Hachi's progress."

There was one thing he didn't say but he didn't have to for me to know; he felt so helpless and confused because he wanted so badly to be there for Hachi when he couldn't be. Everything about him told me that from his soft, distant gaze to his dull words. I could relate to how he felt although I knew he was hurting much more than me. Without a word I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. He shivered as he hugged me back. I heard the change in his breathing as he tried not to cry.

My heart ached from all his sorrow. I had to do something for him to cheer him up, but what? The only surefire way I knew how to make him happy—being with Hachi—wasn't exactly going to work at the moment. The only other thing I could think of was to get him so drunk that, for a moment, he would forget last night and today. "Come on," I said and patted him on the back, "let's go buy a bunch of beer, go home and drink like there's no tomorrow."

He pulled back from the hug and nodded his head. He kept his gaze carefully downward towards the floor—I assumed to hide his teary eyes. "Okay. Sounds good. But let's get dinner first, I'm starved."

I laughed and tossed an arm over his shoulders. "Didn't we just have lunch a little bit ago?"

He shrugged his shoulders and flashed a smile. "What can I say? I'm a guy."

**14 WEEKS LATER**

—Nana K—

I had talked myself into and out of it dozens of times by the time I got there. I knew that it would help me but I couldn't help but feel a bit reluctant. Things wouldn't be how they were before; I just hoped that things wouldn't be completely different. I took a deep breath of courage and knocked on the door. A moment passed and I began to think that no one would answer. Curse the Demon Lord! Of all times for me to finally work up the courage to come here it had to be when no one was home. I had just started to walk away when the door opened—curse the Demon Lord, again!

"Hello?" the girl asked. She stuck her head out the door and when she saw me her jaw dropped. "Hachi! What are you doing here?" She ran up and glomped me, almost knocking me over.

"I came to ask if I could stay here for awhile with you."

She held me at arms length and stares at me for a moment. "So your memories are back?"

"A little bit, yes," I nodded. Nana smiled and did a little dance. I laughed. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"Of course it's a yes!" She hugged me some more before we went inside.

It felt slightly awkward being back there at apartment 707. I tried not to show it though so that I wouldn't worry Nana. Junko had told me that there were many people I forgot and I knew that until I recovered all my memories, they would worry. I sat down at the table while Nana started to make some coffee. I closed my eyes and brought my memories back. My therapist told me that I should think back on all the memories I recovered often. That way, they solidified in my mind and possibly trigger more.

I remembered when I first walked into the apartment and saw Nana inside. She didn't recognize me at first but there was no mistaking her. At first we both fought over the apartment but then we ended up deciding to rent it together. We even went looking around for furniture and other stuff together.

"Hachi," I murmured. I opened my eyes and looked at Nana staring at me. "The first time you called me that we were at a store. We bought something that day, something important. What was it though?"

She smiled lightly and turned back towards the cabinets. She opened a cupboard and pulled out two glasses, which she filled with water. She placed one glass in front of me and sat across from me. I took a sip then stared aimlessly at the glass as I tried to remember. I traced my finger over the little strawberries on the glass. They were cute. It surprised me a bit that a character like Nana would have such cute glasses.

I looked up suddenly at Nana and she was smiling. "We bought these glasses when you called me Hachi for the first time."

She nodded. "What else have you remembered?"

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes again, and leaned back against the seat. "I remember the train ride to Tokyo and sitting next to you. I remember staying with Shoji for a while but then he got mad at me for being so dependant or something and so I went searching for my own place. Then we rented this place. I remember working at the store we got our furniture but it didn't last long. The only other thing is you singing on this table. Some guy was playing guitar." I sighed, "But I can't remember who it was or even what he looked like. He's just a dark figure in my memories."

When I opened my eyes the smile she had on before was gone. Now her brow was knitted and she was biting her lower lip. Of course she was unhappy. My therapist warned me that those close to me might become frustrated when I couldn't remember certain details. But then Nana's expression softened and she placed a hand on mine.

"That was Nobu. He was the blonde guy from the hospital, remember?"

I nodded. "I remember him." I tried to place him back into my memories of that day but his face wouldn't stick to the figure in my mind. I sighed and shook my head. "I'm sorry. I don't doubt what you say, but I just can seem to fix him as the guy in memories."

"You'll remember one day, I'm sure of it." She smiled at me and squeezed my hand. It made me feel so happy to know that she was so supportive. I could feel tears starting to brim my eyes as I couldn't help but smile back at her. Right then, the buzzer on the coffee maker went off.

"I'll get it," I said and quickly hopped to my feet before Nana was halfway out of her seat. "I have to get used to doing things around here again." That was a lot easier said then done. I stood at the counter, staring at the cabinets, trying to remember which one had the mugs in it. I really wanted to do this on my own, to try and force myself to remember, but it didn't look like that would happen today. I turned back to Nana and sheepishly grinned. "Where are the mugs again?"

"Second from the end," she answered and pointed to right cabinet for me. "You sure you don't want me to help?"

"I'm sure." I finally retrieved the mugs from their hiding place and fixed two cups of the fresh, delicious smelling coffee Nana had made. I gave Nana hers and sat down with my own. It was still hot but I couldn't resist taking the tiniest of sips. "So my room is that one over there right?"

"Yeah, that your—" Nana cut off suddenly and her expression changed to something close to troublesome. "None of your furniture is here anymore. You had it moved to Takumi's."

"Are you serious? Ugh, I should have thought this trough better. I never should have decided to just surprise you like this. I should have called and checked everything. Curse the Demon Lord for such terrible luck," I whined. I heard Nana snicker and I looked at her. Her shoulders were shaking and she had a hand over her mouth as she tried not to laugh at me. I frowned and glared at her.

"I never thought I would have missed your rambling about the Demon Lord as much as I have," she said with laughter hiding behind her words. She took a deep breath and finally all the giggles were gone—at least I hoped they were. "Well, for now I guess we can share my bed. I'll talk to Yasu tonight and have him ask Takumi to send your things back over."

"Thanks, Nana."

She smiled at me and sipped her coffee. "Anything for you, Hachi."

—Nana—

It had been so long since the last time I could remember falling asleep next to someone. It was comforting knowing that she was just within arms reach, to feel her warmth just inches from me. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. You would never be able to guess that so much chaos was going on from the look on her restful face—and I'm sure there was a lot more chaos going on than I was aware of.

A memory suddenly came to me. It was the first time we had shared this bed. We were wrapped in each other's arms. Almost instinctively, I reached out for her. She turned in her sleep and gently her one arm fell over my hip. I smiled and closed my eyes. Never had I felt more home than that night at apartment 707.

But why did it have to be broken? Things were so great but life seemed to be tearing us away from this place. Though maybe this could be a fresh start, for the both of us. Maybe we both could go back and live here happily together just like the old days when things seemed so much simpler.


	4. Part 4

—Nana O—

When I woke up, Hachi was gone. I heard no noise from the other room but I smelled coffee. I stretched and yawned as I got out of bed. I guess Hachi had an early therapy session this morning and didn't want to wake me.

"Good morning!" Hachi chirped when I opened the door to the main room—I guess she didn't have therapy this morning after all. She sat at the table in the blue halter sundress and a white crochet shrug. I didn't recall her having a suitcase with her last night and it made me wonder where she got the new outfit. She must have guessed my thoughts because she said, "Jun dropped by this morning with some of my things. I was also going to make breakfast too, since I was up, but you don't really have anything here to cook."

"Yeah," I said sort of sheepishly. "I haven't been staying here as much lately. And I've been eating out so I've had no reason to buy groceries." I poured myself a cup of coffee and joined her at the table. "We can go get breakfast if you're free."

"Sure," she smiled. "I'm completely free today so we can do anything you want."

Sitting there at the table with Hachi, having our morning coffee, made me feel nostalgic. I felt happy and relaxed, two things I hadn't exactly felt in some time. If only I could start every morning like this, with her. "Would you mind if I invited the other guys with us to breakfast?"

"Other guys?"

"From my band. You've met Nobu already; he plays guitar. Yasu is our drummer and Shin plays the bass."

"That's right, you're in a band! Oh that would be so awesome if they joined us. I've never met a band before—well not that I remember anyways. This is so exciting!" Hachi made a high pitches squeal of joy as she danced in her seat. Then she suddenly stopped and gasped with a worried look on her face. "But you guys are a rock band. Or at least I assume so judging by your outfits. Not that there's anything wrong with what you wear; I like it, really. But I can't wear this when I meet a rock band!" she said and stood up, gesturing at herself. "This is no good at all. I should wear something black. Yes, black and maybe some skulls or chains or fishnets. Oh, but I don't think I have anything even close to that. And even if we were the same size it wouldn't feel right to ask to borrow your clothes. Ugh, what am I going to do?"

It wasn't the most appropriate thing to do but I couldn't stop myself. Hachi was just so cute when she went on one of her rants that I had to laugh.

Hachi frowned and pouted at me. "What's so funny?"

It took me a moment to calm down enough to respond to her. I got up and patted her on the head and said, "You're really cute when you're flustered and rant off. I've missed that." She turned bright red and I laughed lightly again. "And what you're wearing is fine."

I called the guys and of course they all agreed to join us for breakfast. This would be the first time they would see Hachi in almost four months. Hachi and I decided to walk to the restaurant because a cab wasn't worth it, it was a beautiful morning and it would hopefully give the boys enough time to get ready and meet us there. On our walk, Hachi did most of the talking. She rambled aimlessly about being excited to meet an actual band. She asked a couple questions about the band, which I answered, and I helped her memorize who was who—that wasn't very hard. She already knew Nobu and it wasn't hard telling Shin and Yasu apart.

When we got to the restaurant Hachi immediately darted to the bathroom. I found the guys sitting in the corner booth, half in disguise—even I was wearing a wig. BLAST had really become popular and in the past few months we had grown used to having to put on wigs and slightly different clothes when we went out in public. Thankfully the recording company stopped making us go out in complete disguises because I don't think I could handle seeing Shin dressed as a girl again.

"Hey Nana. Where's Hachi?" Shin asked.

"Bathroom. Get up Nobu."

"Why do I have to move?"

"Don't you want to sit next to Hachi?" He quickly jumped up and let me slide in next to Shin. "That's what I thought."

Nobu sat back down and sighed softly. "I wonder how much she's changed."

"Not much," I shrugged. "She's slimmer now that she's no longer pregnant but she seems to be pretty much the same."

"I know that. I meant how much her amnesia has affected her. She has only remembered you so far and it's been five months. At this rate it could be years before she remembers the rest of us."

I stared at Nobu with a very unamused expression. "Well you're really depressing this morning," I said and punched him in the arm. "If you have any desire to try to win her over again I suggest losing the rain cloud and putting on a damn smile."

He whined and buried his head in his arms on the table. "Leave me alone. It's early and I need coffee," he mumbled.

"He also needs to get laid," Shin added.

"Shin!" Nobu blurted and pounded his fist on the table. "You did _not _just say that."

"Well it's true."

"That doesn't mean you have to share it with the world!"

"At least I said it before Hachi appeared."

Something flashed in his eyes before he turned and sure enough Hachi was standing there with a slightly awkward expression. "Hello everyone," she said. Shin and Yasu greeted her back but Nobu just started silently. Hachi met his gaze for a second before blushing and turning her gaze the other way. A moment passed before she glanced at him again to find him still staring. "Is something wrong? Is it my outfit?" She grumbled and looked at me. "See, I told you I should have changed!"

I started laughing again and the guys stared, dumbfounded. "What you're wearing is _fine_, Hachi," I said between laughs. Still, she didn't believe me and crossed her arms and pouted.

"Uh, sorry," Nobu quickly said. "I didn't mean to stare. And Nana's right; what you're wearing is perfect." Hachi turned a shade brighter. She looked at Nobu and they held each other's gaze. Nobu looked away first this time. He scooted closer to me, making more room for Hachi. "Here, sit."

After ordering our food I told the guys the story about Hachi freaking out about what she should wear today. We all had a good laugh but after that the conversation awkwardly stopped. Silence hummed around us and I could tell Hachi was feeling out of place with the rest of us. If only I could figure out something we could all talk about.

"So, Hachi, how's therapy going?" Shin asked. Of course he would be the one to break the silence—and with a question like that. Honestly, I didn't think she would want to talk about it but she looked at Shin with bright eyes and a smile.

"Pretty good," she replied. "I don't know how much you guys already know but after I got out of the hospital, I had physical therapy for a month and a half. After that I started therapy to recover my memories. It was hard getting used to being hypnotized so the first few weeks I just tried to get used to letting my subconscious take over. It was another few weeks before I recovered any of my memories. And I didn't even remember that much before getting completely stuck. I haven't remembered anything new for a month now."

Hachi sighed and took a sip of coffee as she gathered her thoughts again. "In the beginning, my doctor and therapist only wanted me to be around people I remembered. But now that I've been stuck for so long, they suggested I try to reconnect with people I forgot. I was reluctant when they first suggested it. But Jun kept pestering me and yesterday I finally got the courage to approach Nana again."

"We all should do something together."

"Like what, Shin?" I asked.

"Hm…" He thought for a moment and then shrugged. "No clue."

"Well you're very helpful."

"I try."

"There's a festival coming up soon," Nobu said.

"Really?" This was the first time I ever heard of a festival in the area. Then again, I haven't been paying too much attention to local events. "Where is it?"

"It's a short train ride outside of the city. It's a small end-of-the-summer festival being thrown by the local inn." I raised an eyebrow at him. If he was talking about what I think he was, then he must have some sort of plan if he was willing to go back _there_. "It's gonna be in a little more than two weeks so we've got time to make arrangements. I talked to the company about it already and they said they could give us the day off if we ended up going."

"This is so exciting!" Hachi sang. "I haven't been to a festival in ages. And I get to go with one of the most popular bands in Japan. I wish we didn't have to wait so long though."

I looked over my coffee cup at her. I had not seen her that happy in so long and it made me smile. "Hey Hachi, have you ever been to a rehearsal before?"

"No, why?" She looked at me but I just smiled, hoping she would catch on. When she finally understood what I meant, her eyes lit up. "Are you serious?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Well it's not really up to me. Ask Yasu." She turned her bright eyes on Yasu and I had to fight myself not to laugh at his reaction.

"Of course you can, Hachi."

I don't think I've ever heard Hachi squeal in such a high pitch before. And I was glad that I wasn't sitting next to her because she nearly decked Nobu when she threw her arms up on joy.

This day was off to such a great start that I almost forgot what tomorrow was and what was going to happen.

Almost…

—Takumi—

The view of the city from my hotel room reminded me of Tokyo. Lights filled the nightscape, illuminating everything. Below people still flooded the streets despite the growingly late hour. I knew that I should be trying to sleep but all the jetlag was keeping me awake and I figured I might as well sleep on the plane to try to get back into Tokyo time. Although, going home didn't mean much to me. The only thing I could say that I possibly missed was being able to read everything and communicate with everyone.

Someone knocked on the door and I sighed. There was only one person that would disturb me right now. "What is it?" I asked flatly when I opened the door.

"I need you to confirm some last minute schedule changes before tomorrow," my manager said as he let himself in. He sat down on the couch and spilled a pile of papers across the coffee table. I followed him and sat down in the chair opposite him.

"The photographer for the photo shoot tomorrow evening got in an accident so we have to reschedule it. Now I can try to move around some of the interviews to try and make up the shoot the day after tomorrow. However if you wanted to take some time off for any reason tomorrow evening I can leave it open."

"I don't have a reason to keep it open but the others might enjoy the break."

"What about Nana? Aren't you still seeing her?"

I blinked. I had almost forgotten about her. With her no longer talking to me, and few updates from Yasu, she hadn't been in my thoughts very much. "Hm… I guess I could spare some time for her. Keep tomorrow open."

"Okay. I'll reschedule the shoot. I guess that's it since I don't have to move things around."

"I'm going out for a bit then."

He frowned at me but I ignored it. "Don't be out too late. And try not to draw too much attention to yourself."

I smiled at him and walked out of the room. On my way to the elevator I ran into Ren; he'd just come up from having a smoke. He looked like crap. "Hey Ren. You excited to go back?" I asked, half sarcastically.

He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I guess."

"Aren't you and Nana finally getting married once you get back?"

"Yeah, we're gonna fill out the final paperwork and then get it legalized."

"You're really going through with this. Do you really think it will work though?"

"What do you mean?" he asked with an edge. He looked at me defensively and I knew that he had been thinking the same thing lately.

"All I'm saying is that you're both in very popular bands and it has taken over three months for you two to get married. How much do you think is going to change once you are married?" I left him with that question and continued on my way to enjoy my last night in the city.

—Nana O—

"You look nice tonight," I told Hachi after I got home from a meeting with Gin and some other business officials. "Going somewhere?"

"Yep," she smiled. "I'm going out to dinner."

"A date, eh? Who's the lucky guy?" I egged. She blushed brightly and shook her head. I flung an arm over her shoulders and drew her closer. "Ah come on, you can tell me. Who's this mystery man of yours?" Personally I hoped it was Nobu and she was just being shy about it. However, as long as it wasn't Takumi I guess it didn't really matter.

She pried herself out of my hold and sat down. "You don't know him."

I didn't believe her. She wouldn't be acting all shy and embarrassed if it was just some random guy. It had to be someone I knew. "You're lying," I accused. She averted her gaze, confirming my suspicion. "Why won't you tell me?"

"He wants to keep it secret. He doesn't want word getting out, especially since everyone would make a bigger deal about it than it really is."

I didn't like the sound of that. It just made me think even more that it was Takumi. It didn't help that I knew that he was free tonight due to a last minute schedule change. Selfishly I thought about canceling my plans with Ren all in the hope I could keep Hachi away from Takumi. But I knew I couldn't do that to Ren—or myself. We hadn't seen each other in five months and I missed him, in more than one way, and I was sure he felt the same.

"You're going to dinner with Takumi, aren't you?"

At first she looked shocked that I had guessed correctly. Then she gave me the biggest puppy dog eyes. "Please don't be mad at me, Nana. I know you don't like him, which is why he didn't want me to tell you. If you want I can cancel; I can say I'm not feeling well. Or maybe—"

"Hachi," I stopped her. I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked at her with a soft smile as I lied through my teeth. "It's okay, I don't mind. Takumi was a part of your life before so there's no reason why he can't be in it now. Just have a good time tonight, okay?"

She nodded at me and smiled. "Thanks, Nana."

The moment that followed was like the calm before the storm. Hachi finished primping and I flipped through a magazine. When she left, I showed her off with a big smile. But when that door closed behind her I felt a pang in my chest. My knees felt weak and gave out. I sat there on the floor leaning against the wall and began to tremble.

How could I have let this happen? How could I lie to her so easily like that and let her walk right into the enemy's arms? I was such a terrible friend; I didn't deserve to have her. Though, selfishly, I wanted nothing more than to have her to myself.

Before my thoughts could snowball any more, I yelled at myself to stop. I had to meet Ren soon and I couldn't do that if I had a panic attack. I took a deep breath, held it, then slowly let it out. I had to keep calm. No one else was there and I didn't think there was a paper bag anywhere so I had no idea what I would do if I had an attack now.

"Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm," I chanted to myself. Still, I felt shaky. I crawled over to the fridge—I didn't dare try to stand—and pulled out a beer. The cold beverage washed through me, making me shiver. Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by empty beer cans and searching for the hard liquor. I wavered to my feet and began searching the cabinets. Where the hell was that damn sake? Then I started hearing an annoying ringing sound. "Shut up!" I groaned, but the noise continued. By about the fifth time it sounded I realized that it was my phone. I staggered to the table and glared at the little device as I strangled it in my hand.

_Ren_, the caller ID said. Reading his name made something click inside my head. The room began spinning around me and I had to sit down again. I must have answered my phone because I head a voice calling my name.

"Nana? Nana, are you there? Please answer me."

"Ren," I choked as tears began to consume me. "I need you. Please…"

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"I need you," I repeated. My chest felt heavy as if a ton of cinder blocks were on top of me. Things began to get fuzzy after that. I remember trying to walk somewhere—my room, maybe—but my feet gave out the moment I let go of the table. The floor was cold against my skin and gave me goosebumps. It felt so good, though, that I pressed my cheek to the floor letting the coldness fill me.

I remember hearing a loud noise followed by what I thought was an earthquake. I opened my eyes, not to an earthquake, but to Ren shaking me. He helped me sit up and he held me carefully. Good thing he did because I felt that if he were to let go of me I'd fall right back onto the floor.

"Nana, what happened?" he asked.

I stared at him but he was too blurry to see what kind of emotions his face held. Something wet dripped across my cheek and instinctively I touched my face to wipe it away. But no matter how many times I tried to get rid of it, it would come back. I only realized that I was crying when I tried to speak and found my words choked and shaky. "I'm scared," I muttered.

Ren pulled me closer and I buried my face in his chest. His warmth and scent caressed and filled me, gradually calming me. How long we sat there, I didn't know. Time was doing that weird thing where it felt like it was going so slow yet so fast at the same time. At some point I threw up in the bathroom and at another I was in my bed. Ren sat next to me with an arm wrapped around me but my mind was already gone. Darkness washed over me.

I opened my eyes suddenly to a bright light and a pounding in my head. I groaned and rolled over, effectively falling out of my bed. The floor gave my hip a nice wake up call and sent my head spinning. What had happened to me? I got to my feet and found a note on my nightstand.

_Nana  
In case you don't remember you got wasted last night. I came over because you sounded troubled on the phone. You tried to tell me what was wrong but you were crying too much to understand. I think it was something about Hachi because you kept saying her name. Anyways, call me when you wake up please. I want to make sure you're all right.  
Ren_

My memory sparked back and I remembered everything again. I immediately walked out of my room and opened Hachi's door. She wasn't there. Did she ever come back? I looked at the clock. It was a little after noon so she could have gone to therapy or to hang out with Jun. But no matter how much I wanted to believe that was the case, I knew the truth was far different than that.

—Yasu—

Most of the time it would be Nana that needed to talk to me but considering the circumstances, it wasn't too surprising that I was having breakfast with Nobu. All he had said to me last night when he asked me to breakfast was that he wanted to talk about Hachi. He didn't even have to tell me that because of all the things he could need to talk to me about that was the only thing I could come up with.

I met him at the same diner we had had breakfast with Hachi the other day. Nobu was already there and was sitting in the same booth we had before. When he noticed me, he gave me a slight nod. He seemed very confused and troubled and I knew I had my work cut out for me.

"Hachi," I said when I sat down across from him.

"Yup." He swirled his coffee around in his cup then sighed. "I don't know what I should do to get her to remember me. I know I should hang out with her as much as I can but what if that's not enough?"

"You worry too much," I told him and inwardly sighed. Trying to recover memories was not my area of expertise. "Why don't you try talking to her therapist?"

"I can do that? But I don't want her to think I'm weird or anything for asking who her therapist is."

"I can get the information from Jun for you."

"Thanks." He smiled softly then gazed into his coffee. There was more he wanted to talk about; I could tell so easily there was more on his mind. Then he finally said, "What if it's too late?"

"Hm?"

"Maybe our time is over, for good now. It's been so long; would we even love each other the same way?"

"You'll never know until you try."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't even know if I want to."

That took me by surprise. He had been so in love with her and he still seemed to love her now, so why was he having second thoughts? "Why are you—" I stopped short when my phone went off. I pulled it out and checked the ID: Takumi. "Excuse me," I told Nobu. I got up and walked over towards the bathrooms before answering my phone.

"Hello?"

"I've arranged for Nana's things to be delivered tomorrow around noon. Nana will still be in the therapy and so someone needs to be at the apartment."

"Takumi," I said, hiding my irritation. "You should have talked to me before you finalized the times. We're going to be busy tomorrow at noon."

"Sorry, you should have sent your schedule along in the email," he said completely unconcerned.

"_Have you seen my other shoe?_" a voice asked in the background. I flinched. Was that really Hachi? And at this hour… there was only one explanation, and I didn't like it.

"Let me know when you're free and I'll reschedule," he said and hung up.

Ren had told me last night that Nana was upset about something. If I had to guess, it was because Hachi saw Takumi. She'll probably be in a bad mood today too once she finds out that Hachi never returned last night. I didn't even want to think about how Nobu would react if he found out—considering what he was saying before I talked to Takumi, he likely would give up completely on Hachi. For now I decided to just keep Nobu and Shin in the dark and pray Nana wouldn't say anything in front of them.

I walked back and slammed my hands down on the table. Nobu jumped and gave me a curious look. "Do you love her?" I asked.

"Of course I do."

"Do you _really_ love her?"

"Yes," he said with a bit more conviction this time.

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"_Do you?_"

"Yes, dammit! Now stop asking me."

"Good. Now fight for her. I don't care if you're reluctant because you don't know if things will be the same between you too. You have to fight for her. You can't just let her walk into the arms of another guy—again. If you just sit back and let her go now you _will_ regret it later. So do yourself and the rest of us a favor and win Hachi back!"

He stared at me for a long moment. I began to wonder if I was going to have to have Nana beat some sense into him but then he spoke. "Who was she?" he asked, catching me off guard.

"Who was who?"

"The girl you let go"?"

"No one," I said and sat down. Nobu gave me a look and I sighed. "She was never mine to begin with. Besides, she loves someone else and I have no right to toy with her emotions and prevent her from being happy."

"Wait, she's still in your life?"

"Nobu," I said, desperately wanting to change subjects. "What are you going to do about Hachi? You have to go out with her at least once before the festival."

"But that's why I'm here, to ask you! I have no idea and Shin is no help so I was hoping you would have some ideas."

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Nobu whined and I laughed to myself. At least he wasn't going to make the same mistake I did.


	5. Part 5

**A/N: So as I was working I noticed that I made an error in my time line. In Part 3 I had said that there was a 5-week time skip but then later in Part 4 said that Blast hasn't seen Hachi in over 5 months. I have changed it so it's 14 weeks (roughly 3 and a half months). Hopefully I corrected all the time references. If you spot any others that I missed, please let me know so I can change them, thank you. Also, just for further clarification, this chapter takes place about a week or a week and a half after Part 4.

* * *

**

—Nana K—

"You guys have a concert tonight right?"

Nana looked at me slightly surprised. "Yeah, at eight. Why do you ask? Did you want to go?"

"Oh no, no" I said and waved my hands. "I just wanted to know around what time you think you guys will be done so I don't end up thinking someone's trying to break in or anything." Actually I had a surprise for Nana and the others. I had a big dinner planned out for them that I was going to make after I got back from lunch with Jun. It was my way of thanking them for being so kind to me this past week.

"Well it's scheduled to end around ten but with all the encores and everything I might not get back in until almost midnight."

Midnight huh… Maybe I'll just make a cake for them then. Ooh and maybe some cookies. I just hoped that I would be able to stay awake until then because lately I've been sleeping longer than I used to. But that's what coffee was for, right?

"So what are you up to today?" Nana asked.

"I'm having lunch with Jun. After that I planned on doing a little shopping before coming home and relaxing." Nana gave a little pout as her brow scrunched together. "What?"

"Now I feel bad knowing you're going to be alone all night."

I smiled at her and shook my head. "Really, it's okay. I was thinking of taking a long bubble bath and finishing this really good book I started the other day so I won't be bored." Still, she looked concerned. "Don't worry, Nana. If I get too lonely I can always go over to Junko's. Okay?"

She stared at me for a moment then sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. I still feel a bit guilty though." She smiled at me and I smiled back. If she only knew what I had planned.

Lunch with Jun wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it was great to see her again, but she kept asking about my memories and Takumi. That was all everyone was asking me about lately. For one day I wish I could go without someone asking me if I remember anything new or the next time I'll be with Takumi now that we sort of started seeing each other again. I had gone into such a daze from the whole thing that it was not until I got back to the apartment with all my groceries that I noticed I had bought too much. I sighed and put away the things I could save for another day and began baking.

By eight o'clock, everything was done and set up for Nana's return. I had taken a small nap and woke up around ten thirty. It was amazing how much energy that two and a half hours restored. After making myself a cup of tea I sent Nana a message:

_Just woke up from a nap and now I'm completely awake (^o^)/  
You should bring the guys over after your show for a little after party!_

I passed the time by flipping though all my magazines, cleaning all of the apartment—save for Nana's room—and going through all my clothes to find a different outfit for later that night. Eleven o'clock passed by, then midnight. One o'clock was creeping up and I had yet to hear anything from Nana. I checked my phone; maybe I forgot to hit SEND or the message didn't go through. But there at the top of my OUTBOX was the message to Nana. Had her phone died perhaps?

I was just about to send a message to one of the guys before I realized I did not have any of their emails. Jun might have them but I did not want to wake her at such a late hour. I sighed and fell back onto my bed. There was only one other person I could think to ask. It was a bit of a stretch but I did not have much of a choice.

It rang twice before he answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Takumi. It's me, Hachi. I hope it's not too late to be calling. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, it's okay I was already awake. What do you need?"

"Do you have Yasu's or Shin's email?" I knew better than to ask about Nobu's email. I still didn't have all the details about why they hated each other but after seeing their death gazes at the hospital, I figured that it was taboo to mention one in front of the other.

"I have Yasu's but I don't think you will be able to get a hold of him tonight."

"What? Why? Isn't their concert already over?"

"Yeah, but they went to an after party. They will probably be out until three, if not later."

"Oh…" I guess it wasn't too surprising. They were big stars so of course they would rather go to a big, fancy after party instead of a tiny one here at the apartment. Despite all the logic I could not stop from feeling hurt and abandoned. Tears started forming in my eyes and I knew I had to hang up before I started crying. "Okay. Thanks anyways, Takumi," I said in the most normal tone I could muster.

There was a slight pause on the other end before he said, "Are you okay?"

They were just three simple, little words but they hit me harder than a meteor. Tears began spilling from my eyes and I hiccupped for breath. I thought Nana had said she felt bad for leaving me all alone tonight, so why did she choose the other party over me?

"Do you want me to come over?"

His question shocked me and stopped my tears cold. My breath stood still in my chest as his words ran though me. A very small part of me wanted to say no. But my mind was lost in a turbulent sea of pain and confusion. There was no one else but Takumi who could help calm me down at the moment. My heart swelled in my chest as I released that held breath. "Yes, please," I murmured into the phone.

"I'll be right over."

Before Takumi showed up I put away the food. I was tempted to just throw the cake into the trash but I was more glum than livid so I didn't. After I cleaned up my smeared eyeliner and mascara, I sat at the table and stared out the window at the half-full moon in the night sky. There were so few stars out that the moon seemed lonely, just like me.

When Takumi arrived, I ran into his arms. I burred my face in his chest and cried the few tears that were left. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close, and kissed my head. He didn't say anything but I guess that was for the best. I was not in the mood to talk. Once my sobs settled down he pushed me back enough to look into my glassy eyes. His eyes said what his lips didn't. He took me by the hand and led me into my room.

His mouth was on mine even before we got to the bed. One by one our clothes fell off. I bathed in his warmth as he pressed me to the bed. I did not think, just felt. He washed through me, numbing me more and more with each moan he forced from my lips. My nails dug into his shoulders as the feeling built up. A shudder ran through me at the height of it from both ecstasy and recollection. As he lay down beside me I saw the other times we had been together, the last one being the time when Nana was just in the other room. The memory of walking out and finding the broken glasses paralyzed me. I had hurt Nana then, and I was hurting her again now.

I didn't want to think about it. I couldn't think about it. If I let myself, then I know I would end up crying again. I turned on my side and curled up against Takumi, closing my eyes as I tried to fight my mind to stop thinking. I focused on breathing evenly, on staying calm, on forcing everything out of my mind other than the things in my room.

After a moment Takumi got up. He didn't say a word. I assume because he thought I was asleep. But he was wrong; I was wide-awake. And as I lay in my bed, alone, I listened to him leave.

—Ren—

I glared at my phone as it glared the time right back at me. It was late and I hadn't heard back from Nana yet; I also didn't want to go back into the hotel and deal with Mitsuru or any of the others. Lately all I have been hearing from them is, _"When are you and Nana getting the papers finalized?"_ They don't seem to understand that I have not been able to get a hold of her recently—and I have tried. And the more she didn't take my calls the more I wondered if she really wanted to marry me. Maybe it was like Takumi had said before: we're both just too busy with our separate bands that getting married would be pointless.

"You're still up?" Takumi asked as he walked up—speak of the devil. He was getting in late and of course he had a girl with him.

"Yeah, can't sleep." I shifted my weight and took a drag of my cigarette. "I thought you were seeing Hachi tonight."

"I did." I should have figured he would do something like this. First he saw Hachi, had his way with her, and then he picked up some other girl and was about to do the same thing up in his room. "So when are you and—"

"Don't even start with me," I cut him off. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed.

"She still hasn't picked a date yet?" he scoffed lightly. "Really, I told you this was coming. When you're in this biz you're better off being like me."

"You mean sleeping around with any girl you want without even considering the consequences?"

He sneered and narrowed his eyes at me. "It's not my fault if some girl gets foolishly attached. Everyone knows who I am and the kind of life I live so it's not my fault if some obsessed fangirl gets hurt when I don't call her again."

If there was ever a moment that I thought Takumi was a complete ass, this was likely it. I had never really agreed with his womanizer ways and hearing him say that just showed me how heartless he really was—no wonder why Nana stressed out so much about Hachi being with him.

"Just leave me alone, Takumi," I sighed. I took the last drag of my cigarette and put it out. Takumi shrugged at me and walked into the hotel with his girl of the night. Even with him gone, he still annoyed me. I couldn't shake his words out of my head and it was driving my crazy. I was so frustrated from him, from Nana, from the band; I needed some kind of release. Before I could really think about it I punched the brick wall. Pain burned through my fist.

I sighed and loosened my hand. I could barely open it because of the pain. Punching the wall definitely wasn't the best idea. Hopefully my hand would feel better in the morning because we were supposed to record and if I could not play, I would be in deep shit. Then again, it would piss Takumi off so it wouldn't be a total loss. With that thought I punched the wall again, this time breaking skin.

—Nana O—

I did not want to wake up. I did not want to face such a messed up world, one that was so against me. But I couldn't fall back asleep. The sun shining through the window was too bright and the coffee smelled too delicious for me to ignore. I pushed myself up and flinched. I cradled my left arm and noticed blood peeking through the bandages; I'd have to change them before leaving for rehearsal.

"How are you feeling?" Yasu asked and held out a cup of coffee for me.

"Shitty," I grumbled as I accepted the cup from him. I emptied half of it and sighed. "Do you have any more bandages?"

"I'll go get them." He left the room and I started removing the old ones from my arm. Was this how things were going to be from now on? If so, then maybe I should finish what I started last night. Maybe I should go out in a more rock-star type way with heroin or something—not that I knew where the hell to get that stuff. Yasu returned with the first aid kit. I tried to take it from him but he wouldn't let go. "I'll do it," he said.

"I'm not a child. I can do it myself," I protested.

"I know, but do you think you could really manage it with only one good arm?"

I tried to think of a comeback but couldn't come up with one. He was right. "Fine." I held my arm out to him. When he put the antiseptic I hissed and flinched from the burning pain. I glared at him but he didn't seem to care or notice.

"Are you going to tell me the full story yet?"

"Are you gonna grow some hair?" I barked back.

He stopped wrapping my arm and looked at me. "You don't need to bite my head off," he said. He continued wrapping my arm, giving a sharp tug when he did.

"And you don't need to purposely put me through more pain."

"If you're going to be like this all day then why don't you just skip rehearsal and go home," he bit.

I had never heard him use that tone before. It made me feel so small, like I was a child he was scolding. "Sorry," I said shakily. "I'm still on edge from last night." Maybe I should stay home today. If I was snapping on Yasu then I can only imagine how bad I would snap on the others. However singing always helped calm me down so it might actually help if I did go. I hated to admit it but I didn't want to be around Hachi either. Rehearsal it was.

When Yasu and I arrived Shin and Nobu were already there. I prayed that neither of them would ask about Hachi. But of course the world was against me and Shin had to ask, "Where's Hachi? Is she coming today?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because she's sleeping."

"This late? It's after noon."

"She couldn't' sleep last night."

"Did you wake her up last night when you got home?"

"No! She just didn't sleep well!" I spat. Shin and Nobu stared at me blankly. I clenched my jaw. I hadn't even been there five minutes and I was already being a bitch. Yasu placed his hand on my shoulder and I released the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "Sorry. Bad hangover."

They both nodded, either buying my excuse or realizing that it was better not to bother me too much today. Still, I noticed their questioning glances as we practiced our first song. I could feel their question hanging in the air like a ticking time bomb. I knew they wanted to know about my arm but after my reaction earlier, they were probably too afraid I would snap their heads off if they dared breathed a word about it.

Tension pulsed through my veins. My heart pounded in my ears. My feet felt like cement blocks. The air felt thick and suffocating. The room felt shaky around me as everything buzzed into a blur. I started seeing everything in red and I wasn't sure if I was even singing anymore.

"—Nana? Nana?" Nobu screamed while shaking me.

"W-what?"

"Are you okay?"

I thought about that for a moment. "I need to sit down." He helped me over to a chair. He tried to guide me down but I ended up falling onto it instead.

"You don't look good. Shin, go get her some water."

He quickly returned with a small cup of ice-cold water. Nobu made me drink it although I knew it wouldn't help. Now if it were liquor _then_ maybe it would have actually helped me. Once it was empty, I threw the cup to the floor and buried my face in my hands. I took deep, even breaths. The last thing I needed was to have a stupid panic attack.

"Nana, talk to us. What's wrong?" He tried to pull my hands away from my face but in doing so he grabbed my wrist.

"Ow!" I flinched and quickly drew away from him. "Don't touch me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't think I grabbed you that hard."

"Just leave my arm alone." I got up and went back to my mic. "Let's get back to practicing. I'm fine."

Nobu moved back to his spot, picking up his guitar, but Shin stayed where he was. He stared at me with a hard gaze and it was beginning to get on my nerves. "What's wrong with your arm?"

"Nothing, now let's get back to practicing," I said a little too defensively.

"Normally I'd say the bandage was just a fashion statement but you're acting weird so something must have happened. What happened to your arm, Nana?"

"I told you, _nothing_. Can we please get back to music?"

"You're lying."

"I agree with Shin," Nobu jumped in. "I've seen you hungover plenty of times before and you don't act like this. And I know I didn't grab you hard enough to hurt you unless something was already wrong with your arm. So tell us Nana, what are you hiding?"

"Why can't you guys just drop it?"

"Because we care about you. So tell us already."

"You don't wanna know."

"Fine. Yasu, what happened?"

"Well I—"

"Don't you even dare tell them," I cut him off. "Besides he doesn't even know why I did it."

"So you admit you did something." Crap, I slipped. It was over for me. Now that I confessed to actually doing something I knew Shin and Nobu would not give up until I spilled everything. I didn't want to tell them this way but they were giving me no other choice. "What did you do Nana?"

"Tell us!"

"I cut myself, alright!" I snapped. I fell to my knees and slammed my fists against the floor. My eyes burned with tears as the memory replayed though my head. "I felt so stupid, so angry! I hated him but mostly I hated myself. Why did I have to leave my phone out? Why was I too stupid to not put it somewhere safe? I never should have gone last night; I should have gone home."

"What do you mean?" Nobu asked hesitantly.

"Takumi! Hachi had messaged me, telling me to bring you guys over after the concert for a little after party but Takumi erased it off my phone before I could read it—I didn't even know he came to our show last night. When I got home he was leaving the apartment and he told me everything like the damn, smug bastard he is! Next thing I knew I was at Yasu's with a cut on my arm."

Deathly silence consumed us as my words sank in. We were losing in the fight to get Hachi back and it was taking its toll. There was a bang followed by a louder one as feedback buzzed around us. I couldn't blame him for storming out. I only hoped he wouldn't copy me in trying to find some way to release the terrible pain of knowing how low Takumi was willing to go to keep Hachi to himself.


	6. Part 6

—Nana K—

"You have really been remembering a lot these past few weeks, Nana. But you're still having problems with the dark figure, correct?"

"Yes," I said solemnly. Out of all my memories, those were the ones I wasn't making any progress on.

"Have you been trying to work on your memories at home?"

"Yeah, a bit. It doesn't seem to help much though. Everything else becomes clearer but I still can't see who he is."

"Hmm, I see." He gazed at me as he thought. Then suddenly he flipped to a new page in his notebook and set in on the table in front of me along with his pen. "I want you to write down all the emotions you feel when you think about the dark figure. If there is a repetition of places or events you remember him at I want you to write that down as well."

I picked up the pen and paper and concentrated. One by one, the words formed a substantial list on the paper. It surprised me; I could come up with that much about him but I couldn't remember who he was. "I think that's it," I said and handed him back the notebook and pen.

He held up his hand, palm open, and shook his head. "Now I want you to read the list aloud."

"Okay." I thought it was a bit of an odd request but surely he had a reason. And so I read. "Surprise. Astonishment. Happiness. Butterflies. Love. Laughter. Warmth. Strength. Courage. Music. The apartment. A walk at night. Pain. Loss. Regret. Broken promises…" My voice trailed off. I did not like thinking about the memories connected to the last few things on the list. "That's it."

"Do you know why I had you read it?" he asked. I shook my head. "I wanted to see how you said each thing on the list. That way I can get an idea of the relationship you two had. And it seems to me that you were quite close to him, possibly intimate I dare say."

I looked down at the list and skimmed it over again. It seemed possible since I mostly associated good things with him. New memories flashed my head. They weren't much, more like still shots of various times he was holding me. Most felt happy, but some not so much. "I think you might be right."

"Now that being said, why do you think you can't remember him?"

"Because I betrayed him," I automatically said. The words had come out on their own but they felt so true. "I betrayed her."

"Her?"

"Nana," I sighed and turned my gaze out the window. "I think she's mad at me." Somehow Nana knew Takumi came over the night of her concert, I was sure of it.

"Why's that?"

"About a week ago Nana had a concert. I had planned on surprising her and the band with a cake and other food but they went to an after party instead. Takumi ended up coming over for a bit. Nana didn't come home that night and when she did the next day, she seemed listless. The normal joy she radiated around me seemed to have vanished."

"Have you tried talking to her about it?"

"Honestly I'm too afraid to."

"Okay, here is what I want you to do. By the next time we meet, I want you to talk to Nana about this. I wouldn't directly mention Takumi, but just ask if something is wrong. If it does have anything to do with you and Takumi, talk it out untill you come to a resolution. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

—Nana O—

When Hachi came home from therapy she seemed a bit... flustered. She stared at me like a deer in headlights when she saw me sitting at the table drinking my morning coffee.

"Good morning, Nana. I'm, uh… going to go change now for the festival."

I raised an eyebrow and watched her scurry into her room. A part of me wanted to ask her what was up but I figured it was likely just her being over excited for the festival today. Speaking of which, I should probably get ready myself. It wouldn't take me very long but I'd rather be ready to go by the time Hachi was done primping.

I just finished putting on my eyeliner when Hachi popped up behind me in the mirror. "Uh, Nana? Could you help me with my hair please?"

"Sure." When I turned around I caught myself staring. She was one of the few people I knew that looked really cute in a yukata. "How did u want it?"

"I was trying to do a twist with the top falling to the side but I can't get it to stay."

I sighed to myself. She was completely useless sometimes wasn't she? But that was just one of the many things that made her Hachi I guess. "Come on, let's go to you room." We went to her room and she sat down in front of her dressing table. As I began brushing her hair back I noticed she looked troubled. There had to be something on her mind. Maybe that was the real reason she asked me to do her hair, so we could talk.

"Nana?" she finally asked.

"Yeah?"

She hesitated. "I've been wondering… is something wrong? You've seemed distant since your last concert." I stopped brushing her hair and dropped my gaze from mirror. So that was what she wanted to talk about; I guess I have been acting different towards her since then. Did she know that I knew she was with Takumi that night? No, she couldn't. No one would have told her.

Except Takumi, that is.

"You didn't come home that night," Hachi continued. "Was it because—"

"Yeah, sorry about that," I cut her off. I couldn't let her finish her sentence because I knew that I wouldn't be able to lie once she asked if I knew she slept with Takumi that night. "Right after we got done with our encore our manager dragged us out to an after party to meet some big name business executives. I ended up having too much to drink that night and Yasu just took me back to his place because it was so late; I didn't get your message until I woke up in the morning."

"Oh, I see." Her voice was a mix of sadness and relief with a hint of confusion.

"Sorry I didn't explain sooner. The suits offered us our own clothing line and then a tour to promote it worldwide. It's such a big offer. I'm not sure if I really want to do it but the label is pushing us to accept and it's just been stressing me out lately. Sorry again for being weird the past week; business is just crazy right now."

She nodded and smiled softly at me but it didn't quite reach her eyes. I hoped she bought it. I hated lying to her but telling the truth would have only hurt her more. But the air began to feel heavy as the mood refused to lighten. I refused to let it sink in. I was tired of feeling down. And today was supposed to be a happy day. I finished doing Hachi's hair quickly and looked at her in the mirror and squeezed her shoulders. "Let's forget about all that though. Tonight let's just be happy and enjoy the festival." I smiled at her and after a pause she smiled too.

"You're right. Tonight is going to be too fun to ruin with the past."

We finished getting ready and went to the train station to meet up with the guys. Nobu seemed to be in a bit of a mood at first but then he saw Hachi. He couldn't stop staring at her. I smiled smugly at him and raised an eyebrow. It took him a moment to realize I was giving him a look but when he did notice, he blushed and looked away from us. Since I had told him about Hachi and Takumi a week ago, I had been wondering if he would still fight for her. After seeing his reaction to her, I was reassured that he would.

The train ride was long—at least it felt like it was—and crowded. It seemed as if half of Tokyo was going to this festival. I could hear the music and buzz of chatter and laughter before we even reached the station. Outside in the distance colorful lights dotted the twilight horizon. It was a small magical world tucked away out here near the shore.

It was strange being back after so long. A mixture of excitement and nostalgia filled me as I stepped off the train. But before past memories could overwhelm me, Hachi grabbed my hand and started dragging me out towards the festival grounds.

At first all the yelling and pushing of the crown bothered me. Then we broke free from the main flow of people who also just arrived at the festival. There were endless rows of food and game stalls and other carnival rides were scattered around the grounds.

I looked at Hachi and smiled. Her eyes were wide in amazement as she took it all in. She reminded me of a little child coming here for the first time—or a puppy when his master returned. I laughed lightly and shook my head. It was good to see Hachi being her old self again. She pointed to a nearby dango stand and started skipping over to it. I grabbed Nobu's arm before he walked off and waited until the others were out of earshot.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you have a plan?"

Nobu sighed and gave me a look. I couldn't quite tell what the look meant but I did not get a bad feeling from it. The corner of his mouth finally drew up in a small smirk before he walked towards the dango stand where the others had gone already. I smiled too and quickly joined them.

With all the hope in the world, tonight would be the night Nobu would finally win Hachi back for good.

—*—

The night really was something else. I had never enjoyed a festival as much as I had that night. Maybe it was because I was with the people I loved. Or maybe Hachi's excitement was just that contagious. The alcohol in my system definitely made it better, but it was more than just a buzz that made me enjoy the night so much.

The thing that hit me the most was when we were watching the fireworks and I noticed Nobu and Hachi holding hands. Okay, so they weren't _exactly_ holding hands but his fingers were on top of hers; that sort of counted, right? They were sitting in front of me so I couldn't tell if they were talking or anything but clearly Hachi was having fun with Nobu—he barely left her side the entire night.

Since it had been so crowded on the train ride there, we decided to catch the last train home. However, we ended up loosing track of time talking and had to run to the train station. That was easier said than done because Shin and I were pretty drunk and Hachi was in a kimono.

"Come on, hurry up!" I said as we were running up the stairs to the platform. I stumbled but quickly caught myself. Despite my drunkenness, I was ahead of the others. As soon as I reach the top of the stairs I bolted towards the train's open doors and dove inside. I clutched one of the poles and bent over as I caught my breath.

The others clomped into the train just before the doors closed behind them. The train lurched forward and I breathed a sighed of relief. "Made it," I said, slightly out of breath still. I righted myself and turned towards the others. Yasu had already taken his seat; Shin had just collapsed on the floor; Nobu… where was Nobu? I looked around but he wasn't there. Hachi was missing too. Had they jumped on a different car? Maybe, but this had been the closest one to the stairs so it did not make sense for them to get on another car. My phone went off and I fumbled to pull it out of my pocket. It was an email from Nobu:

_Missed the train. Going to stay at the inn. Be back tomorrow_

—Nobu—

When we arrived at the inn, Hachi sat down in the little lounge area near the front desk while I checked us in. All evening I prayed that we would be able to go to our room without incident and so far everything was going fine.

"There's a slight change in your room, Terashima-sama," the worker said.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry. I know you said you wanted a double but with so many guests staying here after the festival, your room was switched to a single."

"Who made the change?"

He hesitated. "Your mother…"

Great. She knew I was here. It made me curious as to why she wasn't here berating me—or just canceled my reservation completely. I sighed. I hadn't planned on having to sleep on the couch tonight but I had no choice; I couldn't exactly complain and make them switch me back when I was getting the room for free. "It's fine," I finally said. He handed me the room keys and I rejoined Hachi. "I was only able to get a single," I told her. "You get the bed of course."

"Don't be silly." She got up and started towards the elevators. "We're both adults. I think we are able to share a bed together. Besides, I would feel bad if I made sleep on a couch or in a chair while I had a giant bed to myself."

I smiled and nodded. Really I was happy she suggested it—for more than one reason. I had known there was a good chance of our reservation being change and had hoped that if it had, Hachi and I would share the bed. It had been so long since we slept in the same bed. And even though I doubted we'd be cuddling like we used to, it would still be nice to just have her that close.

Our room ended up being a suite. It made me even more suspicious of my mother's motives. Was this really the _only_ room they had left or had she noticed I had a plus one, assumed it was a girl, and upgraded us because she thought I would have better chances of hooking up? Either way, I did not like the fact my mother knew I was here.

We quickly realized that neither of us had any pajamas—I guess I hadn't thought completely ahead on this one. At this time of night the only places still open were fast food joints. With a blush, we agreed we'd use separate blankets. I did everything to make sure Hachi felt comfortable because I knew if I went too far now I could very well lose my chance at ever getting her back. But again, despite me efforts to be respectable, Hachi threw my precautions out the window and curled up _right_ next to me.

It was not that I didn't want her to be that close, but more that I was just surprised she was comfortable with it. Maybe she remembered me finally. But if so, why had she not told me? Did she remember so little that she felt embarrassed to admit she still could barely remember me? Thinking about it started making me depressed. She would remember me in time, I resolved.

She fell asleep quickly. I likely would have, too, if I were not relishing the moment so much. It wasn't until then that I truly realized how much I had missed her, her scent, her warmth, her everything. I wrapped my arms around her and fell asleep with a smile on my face.

—*—

In the morning, I took Hachi downstairs to get breakfast. At first I didn't think about and lead Hachi towards the kitchen. When we were about to walk through the door she stopped and pulled me back.

"We can't go in there!" she said, a bit startled.

That's right. I still had not told her that my family owned this inn. I smiled at her and pulled her through the doors. "Don't worry. I'm a rock star," I said jokingly. As I led her towards a small table in the corner one of the older chefs noticed me and approached us.

"It's been awhile since I last swatted your hand out of the cookie jar, Master Terashima," he smiled.

"Huh?" Hachi gave me a strange look and I had to resist the urge to laugh—she always made the cutest and funniest faces.

"This is my family's inn," I explained. "I grew up here."

"Really? That's so cool!"

I smiled at her as we took out seats. She likely thought growing up in an inn was more glamorous than it actually was. But I let her keep whatever fantasy she was dreaming up.

The food was, of course, amazing. Hachi had French toast topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, breakfast potatoes and sausage links. I had the same but pancakes instead of French toast. We both had a cup of coffee and a glass of juice as well—apple for her, orange for me. The meal could not have been better.

But, as I had feared, it did get worse all because my mother just had to show up. "Nobuo," she greeted, nodding at me. "Nobuo's _friend_." She had put a strange emphasis on the word and it made me tense. The last thing I needed was for her to start criticizing me in front of Hachi—or worse, criticize her!

"Good morning, mom. Enjoy the festival last night?" I asked trying to be as genteel as possible.

"Yes, but I see_ you_," she eyed both of us, "enjoyed it more."

"Mom!" I said warningly.

"What? Am I to assume that you stayed in a hotel room with a girl and _nothing_ happened? Well sorry for assuming otherwise. You _are_ a rock star after all; what am I supposed to expect? Speaking of, how much longer do you really plan on living this foolish dream of yours?"

I stood up sharply and slammed my palms on the table. I was sick and tired of her treating me like this. I glared at her, my mouth agape ready to snap back at her, but I paused. This wasn't the time and place for this; and the last thing I wanted was to make Hachi feel uncomfortable by having an argument with my mother in front of her. I closed my mouth and flexed my jaw as I sharply sighed. I looked away from my mother towards Hachi. "Shall we go?" I said with the best smile I could muster.

Hachi blinked at me, confused for a moment, but then hopped to her feet and nodded. I walked around the table and took Hachi's hand. "Thank you for the meal, Nagano-san. I've missed your cooking." We walked out without another word.

"Sorry about that," I said after the elevator doors closed.

Hachi looked at me, her brow furrowed in concern. "Is everything going to be alright between you and your mom?"

I smirked and glanced at her through the corner of me eye. Honestly, I did not think things would ever be fine between my mother and I. "Yeah, don't worry. This is the norm for us. I'm still sorry you had to see it though." I stared straight ahead at the door. It seemed to be taking forever for us to reach our floor. Just as we came to a stop and the elevator dinged to signal we reached our floor, Hachi wrapped her arms around me. I looked down at her, shocked.

"It shouldn't be that way," she said into my chest. "No one should fight with their parents. I hope you two make up soon."

I relaxed, as I couldn't help but smile. She had to be the sweetest person I knew. I placed a hand on her head and said, "Thanks, Hachi." I felt her grip around me tighten just a little. I also noticed the doors closing. "Also, we just missed our floor."

Hachi jumped back and turned to watch the numbers on the digital display go up and up. Her expression was priceless as she turned back towards me and gripped my shirt. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to make us miss our floor!" I laughed so hard I had to brace myself against the wall and hold my stomach. I wondered if Hachi knew that there were only three floors above ours?

—*—

The others met us at the train station. Despite the fact that both Nana and Shin had hangovers, they still wanted to party. Since we weren't exactly in the condition to go out and party—and that it was still one in the afternoon—we decided just to head back to my place for some drinks and conversation. We took the bus over.

Once we arrived, I held the door open for everyone. But Hachi didn't enter. I turned and saw Hachi still standing on the other side of the street. She was staring at nothing, her gaze distant and emotionless. "Hachi?" I called. But she didn't respond. I crossed the street towards her. "Hachi?"

She blinked this time at the sound of her name but her gaze was still lost in the distance. Her eyes looked a bit glassy, like she was about to cry. Her lips parted to speak but no words came out. After a moment, she closed her eyes and said, "This place feels familiar. But there's a mix of feelings, it's hard to tell them apart. It feels like… happiness. But also sadness and pain." A hand went over her stomach as she opened her eyes and grabbed a hold of my shoulder with her other hand. She took a few deep breaths then looked up at me. "Sorry. Vertigo."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Nobu. I probably just need some water." I watched her carefully as we crossed the street and went up to my apartment. The odd thing was, she went straight to my apartment without me telling her which it was. The others weren't even being loud so she couldn't have used that as a guide either. That was when I realized it.

She was remembering me.


	7. Part 7

—Nana O—

It was two weeks after the festival and we were in the studio recording the last song that was going to be on our new album. Nobu had written the song so of course he wanted this track to be perfect—we pretty much spent the entire two weeks just on this song. We finished playing through for the fourth time that day. My voice was beginning to go out on me and I prayed we would at least get a break now. While Nobu listened to the playback, I pulled out my box of cigarettes and showed it to Yasu, telling him I was going out to smoke—the one big thing that annoyed me about recording in international buildings, they were smoke free. He nodded and ended up following me.

"I feel like running away," I said after we quietly snuck out of the recording room and into the elevator.

"Why's that?"

"Because if I have to sing that song one more time I'm going to strangle Nobu and then we'd have to go find a new guitarist." When the elevator stopped at the lobby, he went left while I started to go right. "Where are you going?"

"Back door is less likely to have paparazzi around." He had a good point, so I followed him. At first I didn't think much of it. But when we stepped outside I noticed Ren standing there. What was he doing here?

"We need to talk," he immediately said to me. "Can we go to lunch?"

"We're in the middle of recording right now."

"It's fine," Yasu jumped in. "I'll explain to the others that you were feeling sick and had to go home early."

I looked between the two and realized that this had been a setup. I was angry with them but mostly I was anxious to know what Ren had to say. I had a sinking feeling that I already knew but I was hoping it would be something less serious. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Let's go then."

We went to some restaurant nearby and ordered some food neither of us really cared for. Silence choked the air as we occasionally sipped our drinks or took a small nibble of our food. It was nerve wracking that he was so quiet. A part of me wanted him to say _something_, but at the same time I just wanted to drown in the silence.

"Nana?" I sharply glanced up at him. Just the sound of my name made my heart begin to pound in my chest. Then it finally came: the question I feared. "When are we going to finalize out marriage?"

I bit my bottom lip and lowered my gaze. I had no clue what to say to him. Part of me didn't want to go through with all of it. But that would not be fair to Ren, and I could not bring myself to break both our hearts over my petty anxiety.

He touched my hand and for a second my breath stood still in my lungs. How could I possibly begin to tell him all the things running through my head? I could feel my lungs beginning to burn as they yearned for air. But no matter how much they cried out, I could not seem to continue breathing. My vision gradually became distorted and blurred. It felt like I was about to have a panic attack.

The waitress came by and set down a new glass of soda in front of me, taking the empty glass with her. The entire process stirred me from my daze and air flooded my lungs in a bittersweet sting.

"I'm afraid," I said automatically.

"Afraid of what?"

I opened my mouth but failed to find any words. What _was_ I afraid of? I never had to put it into words before and found it increasingly difficult as the moments ticked by. But I couldn't say anything.

I took a deep breath and tried again. "I'm afraid that things will change—and that they won't change, if that makes any sense. I want us to be happy, like how we were before you left for Tokyo. Things were so simple then. But now we're both so busy with our bands, I wonder if getting married is worth it since we barely see each other now. I don't want us getting married just for the title. Like 'Hi, I'm Nana; I'm the singer in BLAST, I play the guitar a bit, and oh, I'm also married'—I don't want that. I don't want it to mean nothing. But I don't want everything to change. I still want us to be happy and follow our dreams and still have fun with our friends and everything else. I'm probably not making any sense, am I? Dammit!" I cursed and slammed my fist on the table. "Why is this so hard for me to explain?"

Ren stifled a laugh and I looked up at him. He had a smile on his face and it irked me. "You know, you sorta sound like Hachi when she gets flustered."

His comment was so random and absurd and _true_ that I could do nothing but laugh. I could clearly envision Hachi becoming worked up and flustered over something like this and it was funny to think that I was becoming like her in that way. "I hope she remembers everything again soon," I said once I stopped laughing.

"Do you know about Takumi?"

My eyes narrowed slightly. Did he know that they were sleeping together again? Most likely. I would not put it pass Takumi to brag about being the sleaze that he is. "What about him?"

"He's sleeping around a lot again. I thought he might tone down again once he started seeing Hachi—like how he did after he found out she was pregnant." He sighed and leaned back in his seat. He gazed at me for a long moment and it made me uncomfortable. What was he thinking? Did he know more about Takumi that he wasn't telling me? He leaned forward again and took my hand in his. "Nana, you don't have to worry about all those other things. I love you; you love me. That's all that matters. If you don't want to finalize our marriage right now, that's fine. I don't mind waiting for you."

I chewed my bottom lip as I mulled his words over. I knew things could be as simple as he said, so why couldn't I just let this be that simple? Mentally, I cursed myself for my indecisiveness. Dragging things on like this was only hurting both of us more—and probably not just us. Time was ticking by and I was barely further from where I had begun.

"Nana?" Ren said, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked him straight in the eyes and decided that it was about damn time that I grew some balls. "Are you busy the rest of today?"

—Nana K—

"Why did we cook so much again?" Jun asked with a sigh.

"I don't know," I responded as I checked the stew in the crock-pot—almost done. "Nana just said to make a feast for tonight and to invite you and Kyosuke over. She must have something important to celebrate but I have no clue what." I sat down at the table and looked at the counter full of food—there was no way all of it could have fit on the table. Maybe I went a little too overboard. "Think we made too much?"

"With how those guys eat? No. Also there's going to be seven of us right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I still think I made too much. "So when is Kyosuke getting here?"

"He has to work until eight, so it'll be awhile before he shows."

Silence slowly crept between us. The only sound was the soft boil of the stew and the ticking of the clock. It was weird not having anything to talk about with Jun. Then again, we _did_ talk a lot when we were buying groceries and cooking. There wasn't much left to do but wait now. With nothing better to do, I looked out the window and saw the moon rising in the evening sky. It looked full tonight. My mind came to a buzzing halt as I could do nothing but stare at it. The full moon. There was something about it that I was supposed to remember.

"Hachi?" Jun asked carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… It's just… the moon. There's something about it that I can't place my finger on."

"Have you remembered anything new lately?"

I blinked and looked at her, thinking. There was one thing… "Yeah," I mumbled and dropped my gaze to the table. "It was when I found out I was pregnant. I remember crying a lot. Someone showed up and I wanted him to leave. But he didn't. He called someone important and told them I was pregnant," unconsciously my hand slid over my stomach, "and then he showed up. I was such a mess. I can't remember what he said. I just remember crying so much. I hurt him so much… I hurt the guy I cared about most and I couldn't stop crying." I blinked and tears raced down my face. I hadn't even noticed I had been tearing up. I swiped them away as Jun came around the table to sit next to me. She wrapped her arms around me and I sighed heavily into her embrace. She didn't say anything; her embrace told me all I needed to hear and my tears vanished.

"He forgives you for that, you know?"

"What?" I pulled back and stared at her, confused.

She nodded and brushed my bangs from my eyes. "Yup. He still loves you."

"I wouldn't if I were him," I sighed. I folded my arms on the table and rested my chin on them.

"Why's that?"

"Because I should have treated him better; I should have been a better girlfriend for him. Hell, I can't even remember him! If he was so important to me then why can't I remember him? He and Nobu are the only two I can't remember," I groaned and looked up at Jun. She was staring at me like she was expecting something and it weirded me out. "What?"

She hesitated but then shook her head. "Nothing." She stood up suddenly and snatched her phone off the table. "I'm just going to go call Kyosuke and leave him a message to make sure he remembers the party."

When she opened the door Shin and Nobu burst in cheering, each raising a pack of beer in the air. "You're here!" I jumped to my feet and gave everyone a hug hello. Yasu, Nana and Ren also had a pack of beer each and I gawked at all the cases as they set them on the counter. "How much beer did you guys bring?"

Nana laughed and threw her arm over my shoulders. "Hey, we're having a party." She glanced over, finally noticing all the food, and her jaw dropped and eyes widened. "Damn, that's one helluva feast!"

Nana, Shin and Nobu immediately grabbed plates to start digging in. However, I could not help noticing no one else seemed curious. "So Nana, why are we celebrating?"

She looked at me and smiled, enjoying the fact that she was still the only one—to my knowledge—that knew what the special occasion was. "Nothing too exciting," she shrugged as she dug in her pocket, retrieving a folded piece of paper. She put it on the table and winked at me.

I quickly snatched the paper up before the others even moved. I opened it and at first just stared at it. It was only a marriage certificate. But then I looked closer at it and realized what it _was_. I threw my arms in the air and squealed in joy. I glomped Nana, almost knocking her over, and squeezed her tightly. "Oh my god, I can't believe it! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you."

"Someone wanna fill the rest of us in?" Shin asked.

"They finally did it!" I cheered. "They finalized it!"

"It…?"

"We're officially married you moron," Nana answered.

There was a moment of silent shock amongst the other before they started cheering too. Shin and Nobu tackled Ren while Jun hugged Nana in a much more calm way than the rest of us—well, most of us that is. Yasu remained Mr. Cool-Calm-and-Collected and it seemed strange.

"Hey, Yasu?" I walked over to him and gave him a curious look. "You're pretty calm about this."

"I already knew."

"What? How did you know already? That's so not fair. Why did you get to know before the rest of us?"

"Because I could tell by how happy they looked. And it was the only thing I could think of that would make Nana want to throw a party."

_Aren't you Mr. Smartguy?_ I thought a bit sourly. Nana could have wanted to celebrate some amazing song she just wrote or something like that. But I guess Yasu would have the inside knowledge about that stuff. Still, it seemed unfair that he already knew before the rest of us.

We all started eating and talking and having a good time. It felt like ages since I had had so much fun. I was laughing so hard that my sides started to hurt. This felt so comfortable, like they were all my second family. Nana, Yasu, Shin and Nobu started playing Mahjong as I let the moment sink in. This felt so familiar. I could feel myself zoning out as I remembered a time similar to this. My returning memories superimposed themselves over the scene before me like a skipping tape—the moon was full then, too.

"Hachi… Hachi?" I blinked and everything was back to normal. I looked at Nana. "I know I'm drunk but you look kinda funny. You okay?"

I smiled and waved my hands. "Oh I'm fine, don't worry. I was just a little lost in thought." I didn't think it was the best time to tell her that a memory just came back to me—it wasn't much anyways; just a few scenes of a time just like this.

Nana shrugged and went back to the game. She was losing; probably due to how much she had been drinking. She grabbed the can she was drinking and downed the last few sips inside it. Frowning, she turned to me and asked, "Hey, could you get me another beer?"

"Sure." I went to the fridge but when I opened it there were no more inside. I couldn't believe they were all already gone! There had to have been at least twenty-four cans when the night started. Sure there were eight of us but Jun, Kyosuke and I only had five between the three of us. "We're out," I said flatly.

"What?" Nana got up and joined me at the fridge. "Damn, I can't believe we went through them that fast. Well someone has to go get more. Nobu! Go get more beer!"

"Why do I have to go? Why can't you?"

"Because I'm too drunk to go get more."

"I can go," I offered. I had only had one beer, making me the most sober, so I didn't mind.

"Don't worry, Hachi, one of the guys can do it."

"Really, I don't mind going."

"Suit yourself," Nana shrugged and sat back down. "Nobu, go with her. Ren will take your place."

"What? Why do I have to go too?"

"Are you really going to make Hachi go alone? What a terrible man you are. Go help carry the bags for her at least! If you're lucky, maybe you can pretend to be macho and defend her from some nightly creepers," she smirked.

Nobu didn't fight her anymore. So together, he and I started walking down to the twenty-four hour corner market to pick up a couple more cases of beer. We passed along the river and I could not help but gaze at the reflection of the moon in the water. Everything about this night felt familiar; I just could not remember why yet.

"The moon's beautiful tonight," Nobu said, making smalltalk.

"Yeah."

"I can't believe Nana and Ren are married. It seems like only last week that they started dating."

"How long have you known them?"

"I've known them since we were just kids. I was in the same class as Nana during high school. I was her only friend back then. Well, until I introduced her to Ren and Yasu that is. I almost miss those days when we were just playing in little no-name bars."

"You guys are really close," I stated, feeling slightly insignificant.

Nobu seemed to pick up on that tone in my voice. "Ah, don't worry, Hachi," he said and threw his arm around my shoulders. "Our little family would be nothing without you."

His comment made me blush. It also made my heart pound a bit harder in my chest. I turned my head away from him slightly so he would not notice my red face and the smile I could not hide. "It's strange," I said softly. "Tonight feels like déjà vu. I can sorta remember a night just like this, but it's fuzzy." Nobu stopped walking and I turned to look at him. I was about to ask if something was wrong when a bitter wind whipped around us, making me shiver.

"Here." Nobu took off his jacket and placed it over my shoulders. I put my arms though the sleeves and hugged the warm jacket around me. It smelled exactly like him. I looked up at Nobu and time seemed to stand still. For a moment, the only thing that seemed to move was my fluttering heart.

I did not know if he moved first or if I did; if it was just the alcohol or if this was a pure moment; if it lasted for one second or one hour. All I could say for sure was that we kissed.

—Nana O—

Once again, Shin won the game of Mahjong. I grumbled and rested my chin on my folded arms. I glanced at the clock and frowned. "What's taking Nobu and Hachi so long?"

"Maybe they got lost," Shin said nonchalantly. I glared at him. I could see how Hachi might get lost but that was partly why I sent Nobu with her. Then again, he might be drunk enough to get lost too.

Speaking of the devil…

I heard the doorknob start to turn and my eyes darted to it. Finally! I jumped to my feet and, before they even got through the door, I wrapped my arms around Hachi. "Oh Hachi, I'm so glad you're safe and didn't get lost."

"I'm not Hachi. And you're drunk."

I stepped back and sure enough I had been hugging Nobu. Guess I was too excited—and okay, drunk—to notice who I hugged. I glanced over his shoulders but Hachi was not behind him. "Where's Hachi? Oh no! She really did get lost, didn't she? How could this have happened? You were supposed to protect her!" I said hysterically and shook him by the shoulders.

"I didn't lose her. She just… ran off."

By the tone of his voice and the look on his face I knew something had to have happened while they were out. "What happened?"

He walked in and set the cases of beer on the counter before sitting at the table. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "We kissed."

"What?" I was at his side in a flash. I grabbed his shoulders and turned him to look at me. "You two kissed? Yes! I knew my plan would work. Although this was not the afterward I had expected. What happened to Hachi?"

"Like I said, she ran off."

I narrowed my eyes. "And you _didn't_ stop her?"

"I tried," he glared back. "I caught her arm just before she ran and tried to get an explanation. She just apologized and said she needed to go, to be alone."

I collapsed into the empty chair at the end of the table and hung my head. This was not good. Hachi was supposed to remember the night Nobu and she first kissed and fall in love with him all over again. Why had my plan gone terribly wrong? Where did she even run off to? The streets were not safe to be alone on at this hour and I doubted Jackson's was still open. Did she run to Takumi's? My heart sank a bit more at that thought. Why was it so hard for things to go right for us?

Someone's phone started going off. It didn't even finish ringing once before whoever it was answered it. "Hachi?" Jun said. The room went deathly quiet and still as we all looked at her. "Where are you?"

"At your place. Are you still at the party?" We could all hear her on the other end. She was not crying, but it sounded like she had been.

"No. We just left."

"I really need to talk to you. I… I just need to talk to you about something important."

"Okay, we'll be home soon." She hung up and looked at us. "She sounds okay. She might just have remembered something and just became too flustered by it. I'll keep you guys updated."

That night, after the party had ended and everyone went home, I could not fall asleep. I tossed and turned, searching for sleep, but my mind was too wrapped around Hachi. If she really had remembered something, what could it have been that would make her run off like that? Waiting for Jun's call was driving me crazy. I knew it would not come until the morning but that still did not stop me from constantly looking at my phone—another reason I likely wasn't asleep yet.

Just before I decided to chuck my phone across the room it started to ring. It was Jun. "How's Hachi?" I answered. "What did she say?"

"She's fine. She's asleep now," she answered softly. "And I was right, she did remember something else. She told me not to tell you guys about it, but I thought that you should know at least. Just promise me you wont tell the others yet."

"Yeah, sure. What is it? What did she remember?"

"Nobu."


End file.
